Dear Colleagues:

The results of the 2001 Staff Survey provide us with great encouragement and important direction for developing long-term initiatives to improve the worklife of our physicians. Generally speaking, responses from the physician community reflected the same priorities of employees throughout the hospital.

Physicians tended to take great pride in our strong reputation, among colleagues and throughout the broader community. Of those physicians who took the survey, 93 percent would recommend the hospital to family and friends, up from 85 percent in 1999. Physicians also continue to be excited by the challenges they face in this environment with some 88 percent reporting that their work provided them with a feeling of personal accomplishment.

Like other employees throughout the hospital, however, we recognize that more needs to be done to enhance our worklife. While favorable responses from physicians increased dramatically from 1999 to 2001 to questions related to staff recognition (up 16 percent) and understanding the contributions of individuals (up 12 percent), both remain below 50 percent. We are committed to addressing these findings. The BWPO has developed a series of initiatives outlined in this newsletter that are designed to improve satisfaction levels.

As we continue to move this organization forward, we are engaged and ready to listen to your feedback on these critical issues because we know that patient satisfaction is driven by your satisfaction with the work place. We will continue to keep you appraised as we move forward with new programs and initiatives.

Sincerely,



Lawrence H. Cohn, MD
Chairman, BWPO