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A unique ability to grasp the whole picture-from the project goal down to the nitty-gritty details-is what sets Janet Razulis apart as a leader. She also knows how to make everyone involved in every project feel good about what they're accomplishing. Next week, she'll be honored with the Thomson Leadership Award.
"Janet focuses on what's right for our patients, what's helpful for all of our staff and what's right for the organization," Robert Goldszer, MD, MBA, associate chief medical officer and director of Primary Care, said. "She grasps the organizational strategy and helps us move forward in a patient-centered way."
Over her 25 years at BWH, Razulis, administrative director of Women's Health and Specialty Services, has handled many large-scale projects, including the opening of 850 Boylston St. in 1991, opening of the Connors Center for Women and Newborns in the mid 1990s, and, most recently, the expansion of services at 850 Boylston St.
"Janet's extensive knowledge of BWH and its workings, coupled with an ability to see the forest and the trees, make her a very special part of this institution," said Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services.
With the 850 expansion, Razulis was involved in everything from planning and practice openings to building teamwork and consensus. She sees herself as a conduit or a go-between, working among frontline staff, hospital leadership and project architects to ensure the finished project met everyone's needs. Her intuitive leadership skills and extensive experience in financial and operations management, problem identification and resolution, change management, space design, practice management and staff and physician management are critical to building consensus.
"For every practice out here, she does everything from being part of the design team to looking at equipment to choosing chairs for waiting areas," said Kristin Alexander, nurse program manager for the Fish Center for Women's Health at 850 Boylston St. "We wanted the practice design to promote patient confidentiality and customer service, which required a great deal of planning. We went through about 25 floor plans before deciding on the final, and that was just for our practice alone."
"Brighamizing" 850 without losing the building's own special culture is key to the building's expansion. She and many others at 850 have helped make the BWHers who work there feel connected to the main campus and BWH mission through initiatives like teleconferencing ALG meetings and medical grand rounds, and planning recent events as part of the "850 Under One Roof" series, through which hospital leadership meet with staff at 850 to discuss hospital initiatives. "It's those kinds of connections where you don't have to do the physical move that make you feel like you're a part of the whole institution," Razulis said.
Also under her leadership, 850 Boylston has standardized practices, such as minimizing the use of blue cards and replacing them with labels so patients can go right to their appointments without stopping at registration. And she developed generic appointment reminder cards for patients so that every ambulatory site, including 850, has site-specific information on the reminders, rather than the main campus address and main hospital phone number.
And that's just her work at 850. Razulis continues to oversee new program development and finance for OB/GYN and Oral Medicine and Dentistry. She transitioned Oral Medicine and Dentistry to the longitudinal medical record and to a digital radiology system. "I love the versatility of my job and being able to do different things everyday," said Razulis. She recently started working on plans for the move of staff and patients into the new Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, which will open in April 2008.
Razulis earned a bachelor's in Classics at Brown University in 1977 and master's in Health Administration from Duke University in 1979. She has held many leadership positions since beginning at BWH in 1982, including director of Ambulatory OB/GYN Services, director of Physician Referral Program and director of Program Development. More recently, she has held the positions of administrator for the Primary Care Network and administrator of the Women's Health Service Line.
"I like working with such a smart, fun, creative group of people," she said of her BWH colleagues. "The institution always problem solves and plans for the future. We're all lucky to work for an institution like that."