Jobs in Maryland

Governor O'Malley's budget calls for a slew of taxes in an effort to create jobs for Marylanders.  Hospitals are the largest employers in most communities throughout Maryland by employing 95,000 people statewide.  We have continued to create jobs during the most recent recession to address the dramatic changes facing our industry.  My message to the Governor is not to mess with what's working.  By cutting services to Medicaid recipients and continuing to tax hospitals, we will be forced to reduce jobs in our hospitals.  What the Governor needs to do is to figure out ways to adequately fund Medicaid into the future.  As Carmela Coyle, President of the Maryland Hospital Association, said recently, "Our Medicaid program needs to be built to last and so do the jobs that Maryland hospitals provide."

She's Back

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to experience what every American should get to experience at some point in their lives, a homecoming of our servicemen and women.  To witness the joy, the pride, and the excitement was a memory that I will cherish and never forget.  To see fathers (over 100 of them), after an 11-month deployment, seeing their newborn sons and daughters for the first time was wonderful.  It was a great day for the Ronan's, the men and women of the USS Bataan, their families and our country.  I included some photos, including my wife greeting our daughter, Lauren, as she finally made it off the ship.

Homecoming

I have been waiting since October for today to come and it is finally here.  Lauren and her ship, USS Bataan, arrive today in Norfolk, VA, and we are here to meet them.  The Bataan has been on the longest deployment for a Navy ship in 40 years (11 months).  They were sent to first liberate Libya and then on to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Over the holidays, there were in smack in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz.  We were somewhat distracted over the holidays by Iran's threats to block the Strait, but it all played out well for the Bataan and the US.  It will be great to see Lauren.

Caring for a Loved One via Long Distance

This week marks a year ago that I was in Texas caring for my mother, who was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.  That was a long week while she was hospitalized for both her and the family.  What is amazing is that she is 85 years old, has fully recovered from the stroke, continues to live alone and is in relatively good health.  Fortunately, she listened to her family--although I come by my stubbornness honestly.  She finally allowed Home Care into her home to assess her surroundings for safety (i.e. falls, kitchen safety, bathroom safety, etc.) as well as to get her on the road to recovery.  The Home Care nurses were great and played a big part in her current favorable health status.  I recently learned that over 7 million Americans are cared for by family members via long distance.  Based on my experience, I would suggest getting there when you can to make sure that the living environment is safe.  Know what medications your loved one is taking.  Know the drug name, the dosage and the frequency.  Have key information such as the preceding drug info and your contact information available either in or on the refrigerator.  Make yourself known to the doctor and his or her team that are caring for your family member.  It is a new era and caregivers have become much more responsive to your requests for information.  Caring for a loved one long distance is tough but having that support system in place, along with the availability of information, can give you some peace of mind.

George W. Bush

At the Premier conference, I had the opportunity to listen to former President George W. Bush.  Wow!  Now in all honesty, I have been and continue to be a big supporter of his.  What is interesting is that there were those in our group who really disliked W before yesterday.  You ask how someone can go from not liking the man to now liking the man.  We all found him funny, engaging, honest, and able to make fun of himself and he came across as a regular person.  He evoked laughter, empathy and sympathy. 

He used his recent autobiography as the content of his speech and the follow up Q&A.  He spoke of leadership, the institution of the Presidency and the current work the both he, as a former President, and Laura are doing (freedom for women in the Middle East, eradicating cervical cancer in African women, raising money for veterans injured in the wars and training school principals to be better leaders).  He spoke of consciously not criticizing President Obama and his administration.  He talked about his legacy and the mistakes that he made.  He said that a President has to know what he doesn't know and must count on his appointed experts.  He still believes that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the right thing to do in protecting our children, their families and their communities.  He also believes that TARP was necessary to avoid the second Great Depression.  He said that the toughest part of the President's job is putting young men and women in harm’s way due to war.  All in all, it was a most enjoyable hour.  I am now going to read his book, Decision Points, with a much better perspective.

Top Performers

I am currently attending the Premier Governance Conference and learning a great deal about the new direction of health care.  It is also great confirmation of what WMHS is working to accomplish.  The primary message has been that health systems need to change the delivery of care from inside (the organization) out.  We need to transition from the traditional delivery model to the new delivery model using the entire continuum of care.  We are striving to be a top performer through embracing quality and patient safety; enhancing a culture of excellence; aligning our goals with our strategy; strengthening our clinical leadership; educating, motivating and incentivizing our clinicians; providing the resources and removing the barriers for the transition of care; enhancing our visibility; communicating with our staff, clinicians, board and community and, lastly, holding our people and teams accountable.  There is a lot to do, but we are heavily engaged in evolving to be a top performer at WMHS.

Risk of Cardiac Death

I recently read an article in MedPage Today entitled "Risk of Cardiac Death Pretty Much Set by 55." This article means a great deal to me as my father died of congestive heart failure at age 62.  According to the article, if you have a clean bill of cardiovascular health by age 55, as a male your risk of death from heart disease is only 4.7% and 6.4% for women.  A clean bill of health would include not having any of the risk factors, which include: smoking, diabetes, treated or untreated high cholesterol or treated or untreated hypertension.  So far, I have none of these risk factors and I have surpassed 55.  Based on family history; father's death at an early age; paternal grandfather's death at 64; father's adult onset diabetes and his high BP, high cholesterol, high stress job and two-pack-a-day smoking habit for 36 years, now you can understand my relief.  I am not clearly out of the woods, but I am off to a good start.  Hopefully, you are faring just as well.