March 10, 2006

Keeping connected with MGHers

Joan Connerty, RN, of Internal Medical Associates, has known Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, for more than 20 years. As a 34-year hospital veteran herself, she remembers Slavin as a young intern just starting his medical career and later became re-acquainted with him when he was head of the MGH Clinical Practice Council. She recalls that he was always a good listener and was genuinely interested in the opinions of others.

So Connerty was not surprised when she recently received an e-mail invitation to join Slavin and a group of 10 other MGHers for a monthly luncheon he hosts to provide a forum for staff to discuss ideas, concerns and general feelings about the hospital and its operations. In return, these lunches give Slavin an opportunity to hear firsthand about what is going on throughout the hospital and have a dialogue with employees about issues.

"He was always supportive of me and the other employees who worked with him, even back then," Connerty says. "Since he 'grew up' at this institution, it isn't surprising that he values employees at all different levels and knows how important everyone is to making this such a great hospital."

When Connerty attended the informal luncheon Feb. 22, she was joined by other randomly selected employees who represented a range of departments — including Materials Management, Police and Security, the MGPO Professional Billing Office, Public Affairs, Nutrition and Food Services, Radiation Oncology and the Chemistry Labs. Slavin began the get-together with an explanation of why he hosts these luncheons.

"Most of the time, I am in back-to-back meetings, making phone calls and handling issues that need attention, so I sometimes feel removed from the people who actually are running the day-to-day operations of the hospital," he said. "These luncheons give me an opportunity to stay connected to various members of the hospital community."

Slavin then gave the group an update about recent hospital news — such as the new
ambulatory care center off Route 128 that is being planned in partnership with North Shore Medical Center, the future construction of a second clinical building and the strong financial position the MGH has maintained through January. He then invited the group to ask questions or discuss any issues of interest to them. The ensuing conversation covered a variety of topics — such as questions about future partnerships with other hospitals, purchasing new land or buildings to add supplemental space to the hospital, letting the MGH community know about the many educational opportunities available, improving employee communications and difficulties with the operation of elevators in the Yawkey Center.

Ridwan Himawan, general manager of the Eat Street Cafe, also attended this luncheon and was pleasantly surprised with the experience. "Not only was it nice to see the president of the hospital taking the time out of his busy schedule to meet with us, but it also was interesting to meet people from other departments and hear about what is going on in their areas,"he says. "I thought it was a good mix of people from different departments and different levels of the organization — not just managers or higher-level employees but hourly-paid employees too. It was a great experience."