The Voice That Matters
I know I shared a letter from a patient in a recent blog, Stories are Best, but I just received this letter and couldn’t resist sharing it with you here. Read on after for a message about the future that this letter speaks to.
Dear Mr. Shapiro;
By way of introduction, my name is Warren O. Kessler, and I am a retired urologist who practiced in San Diego for 45 years. Approximately 5 weeks ago my son, Brandon Kessler was in a bicycle accident that resulted in a severe pelvic fracture. He was transferred to HSS and came under the care of Dr. David Wellman. He underwent a 61/2 hour surgery and is now recuperating.
This note is written to congratulate you on the extraordinary care he received and the quite remarkable culture that exists at HSS. From the moment he was admitted, I saw nothing but smiling faces, a sincere desire to help from all of the staff, and a willingness to make a difficult situation as pleasant as possible. Dr. Wellman provided excellent care and kept us informed. The surgery waiting room was comfortable, the attendants accommodating, and the electronic board was most informative.
Noteworthy was the culture that [existed] that transcends all level of employees. It was remarkable. We have had experience with NY Hospital and Memorial, and the experience there was quite different. I practiced in the Scripps system in San Diego, and it cannot compare.
In short, you have every reason to be proud of HSS, and I congratulate you on continuing its great reputation.
All the best
Warren O. Kessler, M.D.
The business world says the voice of the customer is the most important one. Here, one of our customers, the father of a patient, uses his voice to articulate our purpose, value proposition and source of pride – three things that make up the most important part of our Strategic Roadmap.
Our Purpose
To help people get back to what they need and love to do better than any place in the world. Here, we have someone who knows healthcare telling us in his own words that we are fulfilling our purpose.
Our Value Proposition
You are all leaders at HSS regardless of your role. You are a leader of yourself and the passion you bring to work every day. You are a leader of our commitment to excellence. You are a leader of helping to create a work environment that allows this to come together to provide our patients with an experience that is second to none. It is impossible to do what we do without everyone being a leader.
Source of Pride
We should all feel immensely proud when reading this. Regardless of your involvement with this particular family, it is a metaphor for all of the patients who come to us and receive the very best of what healthcare has to offer. That should make us proud of not only being part of HSS, but of contributing to making this happen.
I am so very proud of HSS and view it as an immense privilege to be on this team. Dr. Kessler ended his letter with something very important. He said this, which applies to every single one of us:
…and I congratulate you on continuing its great reputation.
This is the most important takeaway here. We have a lot of work to do, and we have to continue to improve regardless of letters like this. The status quo for a leading organization is never acceptable. We need to get better at everything we do and continue to follow our Roadmap on our journey to Better, Knowledge and Scale.
I am more than excited about our future and the opportunities before us. We will continue to earn our leadership position while extending our reach and impact through growth and development. We will do this together, with all of us serving as leaders.
I’m excited about our future for so many reasons, and I’m excited to continue to share our plans and progress. Keep a look out as we share our progress with each other.
3 Responses to “The Voice That Matters”
Thank you for sharing this information with us. It is indeed a great sense of pride to be a part of HSS.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I remember Dr. Kessler and his family and their kind words about their experience. Dr. Kessler could not stop commenting on HSS and how different the experience is compared to other institutions he’s worked in or been to. What an exciting culture to be a part of!!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful letter. We do indeed have a positive and wonderful culture here at HSS.