Celebrating under the Summer Sun

Every single day throughout the year, our doctors, nurses, technicians, and all employees at GBMC work to move us closer to our vision to serve everyone the way we want our own loved ones served. This week, we took time to have some fun and thank our staff at our Employee and Volunteer BBQ for everything they do day-in and day-out in our system of care. The annual event allows our staff to step back, relax, and spend time with coworkers in a casual setting. This year, we also celebrated with a special Western theme.

As always, the festivities kicked off in the morning for our day-shift staff, with a continuation of the party in the evening to allow our night-shift staff to be recognized as well. Everyone enjoyed watching their coworkers sing karaoke and cool off with snowballs from the Kona Ice truck, all while fitting with the Western theme of playing horseshoes, lasso roping games and new this year – riding a mechanical bull. I hope everyone had the chance to try to stay on the bull for 8 seconds! I had a hard time getting on, but I made it through 52 seconds. I was glad that I was still in one piece after I fell off!

We also once again hosted a Legacy Chase Ribbon Contest in which departments, units, and practices decorated 3ft x 2ft three-dimensional awareness-shaped ribbons for the chance to win a pizza party. A round of applause to all the teams who participated! All ribbons were judged and the following teams were declared the winners of the three groups:

• Best Departmental/Unit Theme:  X-Ray
• Best Legacy Chase Theme: Quality and Patient Safety
• Best Cancer Awareness Theme:  Oncology Support Services

I also want to give a special thanks to our Philanthropy Team, led by Jenny Coldiron, our Human Resources Team, led by Anna-Maria Palmer, and our Marketing and Communications Team, led by Greg Shaffer, whose planning made the fabulous employee BBQ possible for all of us once again. Your hard work brings us all together to move closer to our vision to provide the care to every patient, every time, that we would want for our own loved ones.

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ICYMI: I talked to the Daily Record recently about how we can do even better in U.S. healthcare. Below is an excerpt, but you can read the full version here.

Before Dr. John Chessare took over as president and CEO of Greater Baltimore Medical Center nine years ago, the hospital’s board asked him whether GBMC could remain independent at a time when other hospitals across the state and the country were consolidating.

Chessare told them that it could, but it would require the hospital to commit to a transformation of how it cared for people, including an increased focus on treating people before they ever came to the hospital.

“My basic premise is the average man on the street in Baltimore has no idea, has no idea that health care could be so much better if we could just redesign care to get closer to what the patient actually needs,” Chessare said. “There’s no doubt (we) do a great job in the hospital, but we are not doing what we need to do in the management of chronic disease.”