June 27, 2003

MGH Board of Trustees approves revised mission

As the MGH embarks on an intensive strategic planning effort to determine its future direction, the MGH Board of Trustees voted June 20 to approve revisions to the hospital's mission statement and guiding principles.

According to Allison Rimm, vice president of MGH External Affairs and co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, the timing of the approved revisions is significant to help drive the strategic planning efforts. "As we launch several task forces this summer to develop recommendations for the strategic plan, it is important to be reminded of the hospital's mission," she says. "As we shape our direction for the future, these planning efforts should reflect the core values that are at the very heart of what we do."

Below is a reprint of the revised mission.

MGH MISSION
To provide the highest quality care to individuals and to the local and distant communities we serve, to advance care through excellence in biomedical research, and to educate future academic and practice leaders of the health care professions.

MGH CORE VALUES

• Accountability and responsibility
• Collegiality
• Community focus
• Compassion
• Continuous improvement
• Cost and resource effectiveness
• Diversity
• Entrepreneurial teamwork
• Excellence
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Patient and family focus
• Quality and safety
• Scholarship
• Trust and respect

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The MGH will sustain the synergy among the three components of its mission Ð patient care, teaching and research. While patient care is the primary mission, the integration of research and teaching programs is critical in both advancing the quality of patient care and distinguishing the MGH as a provider. The MGH will adhere to its core values and guiding principles as it adapts to future challenges and opportunities. The MGH will pursue its mission as a component of the Partners HealthCare System, will be guided by its principles, and will coordinate its activities with other Partners entities.

• Patient and family focus
  The MGH is committed to excellence in health care, and places the needs, convenience and comfort of its patients ahead of all other considerations. This health care will be high quality, innovative, culturally competent, effective, efficient, accessible, responsive and safe. The MGH will respect and promote patient choice, participation by family and friends in the medical care process, and patients' rights and privacy. This is our most important guiding principle.
  
  
• Community focus
  The MGH is committed to collaborating with communities to improve health, particularly communities it has served historically and which bear a disproportionate burden of social, economic and health risks.
  As a full-service medical center within the Partners HealthCare System, the MGH will operate an integrated, health-care-delivery network to serve the MGH's local and regional communities. The MGH will aggressively promote tertiary and quaternary care programs on a national and international basis.
  
  
• Research
  The impact of the MGH's clinical and basic research has been critical in positioning the hospital at the forefront of medicine, nationally and internationally. The MGH recognizes the importance of the integration of clinical care with clinical and basic research. The MGH will conduct multidisciplinary biomedical research programs of the highest quality, emphasizing their application to improve health in the community, while upholding the highest standards of research ethics.
  
  
• Education
  The MGH is committed to the highest quality education of health care providers and biomedical investigators and the development of leaders in those disciplines. The MGH also strives to educate patients and their families regarding health care and related issues. The institution will continue to play a leadership role in developing and continually improving innovative and high-quality educational programs. The MGH strives to create a work environment that promotes individual development and organizational learning.
  
  
• Competitiveness
  The MGH will develop and maintain innovative, cost-effective systems of academic medicine. It will identify, measure, and market the unique quality of its patient care, research and education programs and their synergy. The MGH will restructure, resize, and relocate programs in order to remain competitive. The MGH will aggressively pursue cost reduction programs in order to deliver its patient care, research, and education programs to purchasers at a competitive price. Decisions regarding allocation of resources will be based on an informed judgment of costs and added value.
  
  
• Human resources
  MGH's workforce is its most valuable asset and a critical component in its success. The MGH is committed to fostering the highest quality work opportunities for all employees, including fair and safe work environments, and to nurturing career-long growth in knowledge and skills. The MGH is also committed to communicating the information and providing the tools employees need to accomplish their jobs.
  
  
• Diversity
  Diversity plays a crucial role in shaping the MGH as an employer, provider and member of the community. The MGH is committed to recruiting, hiring, and promoting people from different backgrounds. A diverse workforce is critical to improving access to quality health care, indispensable for quality education and can accelerate advances in both medical and health services research.
  
  The MGH is dedicated to serving diverse patients and communities. The institution is committed to providing culturally competent health care to all of its patients. The MGH is committed to advancing diversity at all levels of the organization, including the professional and managerial ranks. Leadership will be accountable for achieving this objective.
  
  The MGH will not tolerate discrimination by or against its employees and patients based on race, religion, ethnicity, culture, disability, gender and sexual orientation.

• Decision making
  The MGH is committed to a decision-making process that encourages individuals in supervisory positions to make timely and accountable decisions. Clinical, management and academic leaders will openly discuss issues and conflicts and seek input from constituencies. Decisions, however, may not always be made on a consensus basis. Once made, decisions will be communicated throughout the organization.
  
  The General Executive Committee (GEC) is the highest-level advisory committee within the management structure of the MGH and therefore must be broadly representative. The GEC will monitor implementation of and compliance with its decisions and recommendations.