March 2012 From the CEO

Quests to create corporate cultures of excellence either succeed or fail. The enhanced current emphasis on patient experience really comes down to introducing positive cultural change. Our managers have the support of a patient experience team and are great at encouraging associates to be compassionate on the job. But not everyone has the innate ability to keep patient experience at the forefront as they do their difficult jobs every day. Some people need to see how it’s done and follow a process to emulate what others do naturally.

In this issue of Celebrations, we look at the unsung heroes at the core of our own corporate culture. They are the passionate people who know—intuitively—that their work, no matter how great or how menial, is about more than just a paycheck. It is a vehicle for the greatest of human missions: providing compassionate care for one another and planting seeds of hope. This is never truer than in our customers’ healthcare settings. Despite daunting personal challenges and the hard physical demands of the job, our frontline people still have room in their hearts to encourage patients and their families as well as their co-workers.

Our Patient Experience team has looked closely at how our people drive great patient experience. Positive Impressions standardizes these authentic and reliable practices in ways that will sustain incredible results. With motivated and engaged associates to lead the way, a culture around great patient experience spreads naturally.

Corporate culture grows from the seeds of hope our passionate people plant daily in the hearts of the people they serve. Without the people who make their own “Missions Possible” every day, there would be nothing for us to base our programs on—nothing truly authentic in any case—and certainly no “Positive Impressions.” I hope you enjoy reading their stories; our people truly make us successful in what we do.

We value our partnership with so many great organizations, and thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the great service experiences you provide for your patients.

All the best,