Dear Colleagues:

At the end of February, I had the opportunity to participate in a BWH Town Meeting dedicated to the findings of the 2001 Staff Survey. The results were promising.

In nearly every reporting dimension, responses from the survey improved significantly from the 1999 results. While there is still plenty to do to instill a strong quality worklife at BWH, leadership remains committed to acting on the results and addressing areas for future development.

While reporting dimensions such as community benefits, research leadership and quality patient care continue to receive high marks among BWH staff and employees, we recognize that there are other areas in which we can demonstrate continued improvement.

Items that reflect staff satisfaction continue to remain strong among all employees. Some 85 percent of respondents reported that they were proud to work at BWH, up 8 percent from 1999. BWH would be recommended as a site for care by 87 percent of employees and 80 percent felt that the work at BWH provided a sense of personal accomplishment. Each of these dimensions was up significantly from 1999 and was rated even higher by physicians.

While responses to the question about BWH being a well managed organization increased from a 50 percent favorable rating in 1999 to a 63 percent favorable rating in 2001, we recognize that we have work to do in this area. Other areas, such as recognizing staff and considering the impact of change, showed 18 percent and 14 percent improvements in favorable ratings respectively since 1999, but provide us with a starting point for more initiatives.

I offer my appreciation to those who participated in this important project. You can be assured of our strengthened resolve to build upon the momentum of this effort. We remain dedicated to acting upon the results and improving the quality of worklife at BWH.

Sincerely,






Andy Whittemore, MD
Chief Medical Officer