Dear Colleagues:

There are a number of staff members and administrators at BWH who deserve a tremendous amount of thanks for making sure we were fully prepared for the Joint Commission surveys of both the hospital and our Pathology laboratories. And more importantly, thank you to the many at BWH who make sure we remain committed to delivering the safest, high quality care to every patient throughout our distributed campus.

On behalf of Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, thank you to everyone on our team in Clinical Compliance who led the way in making sure we are “ever ready” for outside scrutiny. Janet Barnes, JD, RN, BWH’s executive director of Compliance and Risk Management, Gail Morrissey, manager of Clinical Compliance, and the entire Clinical Compliance team that led months of preparation for the Joint Commission survey, and they continued with follow up reports and data.

We all are grateful for the efforts and commitment of our Readiness Steering Committee, which included 12 members, and our dynamic, energetic and relentless Ever Ready Team and its 30 members. They mapped our preparation plan, made sure we stuck to it and continue to make sure we maintain our commitment to delivering safe care.

In addition, Sharon Vitti, vice president of Clinical Services, played a significant role in preparing all of BWH’s ambulatory sites for readiness. Martha Burke, MSW, LICSW, director of Social Work and Clinical Services in Care Coordination, Diane Lancaster, PhD, RN, Nursing program manager for Quality, Mary Antonelli, RN, MSN, Nursing Quality program manager, and Dennis Tremblay, Environmental Affairs fire and life safety manager, were vital to BWH’s preparation, too.

Additionally, we owe a debt of gratitude and our continued attention to the Center for Clinical Excellence and the Patient Safety Team’s Erin Graydon-Baker, patient safety manager, and Tejal Gandhi, MD, director of patient safety, for keeping our staff focused on safety issues daily.

The two-week accreditation survey of our Pathology Department went equally well. Pathology is open to more scrutiny, as its entire staff handles countless patient specimens every day. Department Chairman Michael Gimbrone, Vice Chair Frederick Schoen and Clinical Laboratories Director Milenko Tanasijevic have dedicated and talented teams throughout Pathology.

Lastly, thank you to our senior hospital leadership, beginning with Gary Gottlieb, Andy Whittemore, Bob Goldszer, Kate Walsh and Mairead Hickey and our Board of Directors who set the tone for our commitment to patient safety. It’s with their support, insistence really, that we dedicate immeasurable resources to ensuring BWH delivers the safest care to our patients. It’s not because we’re subject to unannounced Joint Commission surveys. It’s because it’s the right thing to do for our patients.