December 22, 2006

MGHers making a difference

Each year, employees from across the hospital apply for Making a Difference grants hoping to improve the patient, family and employee experience at the MGH. There was no shortage of good ideas among the 47 applicants for fiscal year 2007, who
submitted requests for more than $200,000 to bring their projects to life. A grant review team comprised of MGH and Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) employees had the difficult task of allocating the $75,000 budgeted for the program. Twenty-two teams ultimately were awarded funding.

The Making a Difference grant program is sponsored by the MGH and the MGPO and offers up to $5,000 in support of employee initiatives that improve the quality of care at the hospital for patients and their families. Grants are awarded based on a number of criteria, with emphasis placed on projects that have a clear impact on service and the potential to be replicated throughout the hospital.

The Making a Difference program is one of several offered by the Service Improvement Department aimed at fostering a service culture at the MGH. The Service Improvement Department's mission is to build internal capacity for service excellence by assisting MGH departments and practices with leadership and workforce development, results measurement, and systems and process improvement.

For more information about the Making a Difference grants or other Service Improvement initiatives, contact Melanie Cassamas at (617) 726-1816 or mcassamas@partners.org.