March 10, 2000

Thomas Kirkland has his job cut out for him. As the new director of Materials Management at the MGH, Kirkland has an opportunity — and a challenge — to make changes in the department to help support the hospital more efficiently. The Materials Management Department includes staff from Linen Services, Office Services, Patient Transport and Equipment Services, Receiving and Distribution, and Supply and Utilization.

One of the major changes that Kirkland is undertaking is participating in hospitalwide efforts to control supply expenses (See "MGH makes progress in containing supply expenses"). "I hope to bring my expertise and leadership to the table in our cost-reduction efforts so that we can obtain success," says Kirkland.

Kirkland brings more than 30 years of experience to the MGH. He worked in several hospitals and hospital networks in the Midwest — the most recent being the Detroit Medical Center.

According to Kirkland, the structure of Materials Management is changing from being centrally managed at the Partners level to being directed by the individual Partners hospitals. A new corporate director of Materials Management has been hired at Partners, and Kirkland has a new counterpart at BWH. Kirkland is working closely with the other hospital directors to set some standardized practices across Partners while maintaining autonomy for the day-to-day operations at the MGH.

Another of Kirkland’s goals is to bring more customer focus to Materials Management. "Our department is a service," says Kirkland. "We are here to take care of customers, and our satisfaction comes in accomplishing this goal. I hope to be a leader in making the right changes to achieve better customer satisfaction and will look to the Materials Management staff for their support."