November 5 , 2004

Flu vaccine shortage, strategic plan and fiscal review highlights leadership meeting

The shortage of flu vaccine was a major subject of the MGH leadership meeting held Oct. 27 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium. Brit Nicholson, MD, chief medical officer; David Hooper, MD, chief of the MGH Infection Control Unit; and Gregg Meyer, MD, medical director of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, gave an update about the hospital's plans to make the best use of the limited vaccine supply.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released new guidelines to better manage the limited supply by giving the vaccine to only high-risk groups, the MGH has had to further prioritize these target groups. Those groups include patients who are 65 years and older who also have a high-risk condition such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or a weakened immune system; pregnant women in their second and third trimester who also have a high-risk condition; patients 18 to 65 years old with a high-risk condition requiring specialist services; and children under 18 who have a high-risk condition.

"Some very difficult decisions have been made to make the best use of the vaccine that we have," said Meyer. "We need the help of all of our primary care and certain specialist physicians to help determine which of their patients are in most critical need of the vaccine. As additional vaccine becomes available, we will be able to provide it to more of our highest risk patients."

More leadership news:

As co-chair of this year's United Way campaign, Joseph Vacanti, MD, chief of MGH Pediatric Surgery and surgeon-in-chief of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children, gave an update about the hospital's campaign, emphasizing this year's goal to exceed the fundraising target of $250,000 and increase participation to 1,250 donors or more.

The leadership meeting also was an opportunity to thank all employees and staff involved in the opening of the new Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care. Greg Pauly, chair of the Yawkey Center Operations Committee, gave an update about the new center, the first and second phases of moving into the building and talked briefly about the new hotel to be built on the Charles Street Jail site that will begin construction in January.

Offering updates about the hospital's strategic plan, Allison Rimm, vice president for Strategic Planning and Information Management, discussed the implementation phase of the strategic plan; Marianne Ditomassi, RN, co-chair of the Workforce Task Force, shared the success of the Summer Fun program; and Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, MS, senior vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nurse, gave a colorful Red Sox-themed presentation about the work of the Capacity Management Task Force.

Sally Mason Boemer, vice president for MGH Finance, gave a preliminary report about FY'04 year-end results, noting that the MGH slightly exceeded its budgeted margin target for the year. Patient service revenue for the year was slightly behind budget, but was offset by strong nonpatient revenue, particularly in the area of royalty income. Aggregate expenses were within 0.5 percent of budget; cost of free care services increased significantly compared with the previous year; and research revenue grew 15 percent from last year.