An addition will be made to the GSH main lobby at the end of the week. It will be placed in this corner:

In the comments section here, leave your best guess as to what it will be. But if you already know, try your best to keep it a secret.

To sweeten the deal, Corporate Communications is giving away Good Samaritan shirts to five randomly drawn individuals who make guesses. I really want to hear what you think it is!

I’ll update the picture here Friday with the correct answer…or you can see for yourself in the lobby on Friday morning!

Mike

And the winner is…

Rosalyn McDermott from Occupational Therapy in Rehab Services.

While we originally estimated the weight of the MRI to be 27,000 pounds, after some careful figuring and checking, I learned that the weight is 22,112 pounds or just a little over 11 tons. Rosalyn’s guess of 10 tons puts her closest without going over. I’ll be getting her a coffee cart gift certificate soon.

Thanks for playing everyone and have a great weekend!

Mike

You’ve probably heard that we’re getting a new MRI  here at GSH. It’s a 3T model from Siemens and it knocks the socks off our old MRI. I won’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of this equipment, but it’s adding new advanced capabilities to our Diagnostic Imaging offerings here at GSH which means our patients will receive even better care than they’ve already been getting—and what they’ve been getting is really great!

The new magnet for our 3T MRI arrived Monday and you may have had a chance to see it being lifted into the building. If not, here are a couple of photos.

As you can see, that magnet is massive! They had to open up the roof and use a crane to set it inside. Claressa asked us to say a prayer that it would not be raining! From what I’m told, the load even bowed the crane boom. Now that’s heavy!

My question for you is: Just how heavy do you think that magnet is? Leave your best guess in the comments section here before Friday afternoon and the person with the closest answer gets a free coffee cart drink from me.

Our results of the Performance Culture Assessments (PCA) are in, and things are looking up around here! The results show vast improvement over last year, which is great news. In a nutshell, 18 of 19 questions showed a change for the better this year. Hooray!

Let me also personally thank you for taking the survey. More than 95 percent of our staff participated in the PCA this year, and I appreciate you sharing with us how you feel. Leaders can’t make improvements unless we know the areas to improve. So that means our next step will be to create action plans for improvement based on the results. We’ve selected three questions for our organization-wide focus:

1)      I understand how my job supports the organization’s mission. We selected this question because our mission is a worthy one: We provide healthcare services to the people of our region as an extension of the Church, and we do so in a way that preserves their dignity. Our mission states that we make our community a healthier place to live and we fight for social justice—which may mean ensuring access to healthcare for those who need it and can’t afford it, as well as protecting the rights of the most vulnerable members of our community. I hope that every employee understands that your job—whether you provide care at the bedside or support those who do—is critical to us carrying out our mission.

2)      I would recommend this facility to a friend or relative who needs the type of care we provide. This was the only question that saw a decrease from last year. Granted it wasn’t much of a decrease (.9 percent fewer “Completely Agree” responses), but a decrease nonetheless. This really has me perplexed and makes me want to know WHY you wouldn’t recommend the hospital where you work. If you are willing to share your insight with me, please feel free to post your comments to this blog, or send them to me via email.

3)      My manager recognizes my good work. This question was our lowest percentile ranking question. Yikes! The good news is that we increased from a dismal 18^th percentile in 2010 to the 29^th percentile this year, but we have lots of room for improvement.  Recognition is obviously an aspect of our culture that can and should improve. I know that none of us say the magic words often enough.  You know the magic words, right?  “Please” and “thank you!” Expect to see a lot of work in this area soon.

Over the coming weeks, watch the Weekly Update to see the results for each of the 19 questions. Our biggest improvement was on the question “leadership has communicated a clear vision and plan for the organization.” We moved from the 16^th percentile in 2010 to the 61^st percentile! Communication is a two-way street. Leaders need to provide the information, but this last year I’ve also seen staff take the initiative to seek information and ask good questions.  Great work! I plan to continue to communicate with you my vision and plan for this organization again this year, and will work with the vice presidents, directors, managers and supervisors to get you the information you’re looking for.

These PCA results are cause for celebration—they are some of our highest in several years.  I’m hopeful that this is a trend that will continue in the right direction!

Many of you may not know that in the last year that I’ve been settling in here at GSH (yes, it will be one year on June 21, and I am still having fun!), I’ve been living in a hotel. That started out as a short-term plan while my wife stayed in New York and waited for our house to sell. We planned (there’s that word again) for that living situation to last a couple months and then she would join me in Kearney after the prompt sale of our home, we’d buy a house here and live happily ever after.

Enter today’s unpredictable real estate market.

The best laid plans of mice and men…anyway, our house didn’t sell and didn’t sell and consequently, my hotel living was extended and extended. Don’t get me wrong, I loved not having to make my bed every day, have someone else pick up after me,  and a good continental breakfast, but there’s something to be said about not using a card to open your door or telling people you live at a hotel!

But now, I’m happy—no THRILLED—to report that our New York house has sold! My wife and I have also purchased a piece of land here in Kearney and we will be building a house on it! (Well actually, someone else will be building it as I am not a carpenter and I don’t like playing one.) Celebration time!! I have one more trip left to New York and that will be to help pack and officially move to Kearney. It’s about time.

While my physical home has certainly been a work in progress, it’s been a completely opposite story here at work and in the Kearney community in general.  I’ll mark my first anniversary at GSH this month and one year of feeling right at home. You’ve all been so welcoming and kind—even if I do have a Hawkeye sticker on my car—and I’m still so honored to be part of the mission that we’re all working to carry out. Thank you for bringing me into the fold. I’m so happy to be part of the team.

Mike