Massini: The ties that bind

Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini sent an email Wednesday to employees of Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine:

Dear Colleagues,

To say I was overwhelmed, in a good way, at the heartfelt responses to my first CEO message is an understatement. Thank you to all who took the time to share your own stories of how you came to our organization, what you enjoy most about your job and what you see as our biggest challenges today and in the future.

Thank you also to those who invited me to stop by your departments to see firsthand the work that you and your colleagues do. I plan to do that as often as possible.

Through your responses, I learned a lot about us.

I learned that many of you work here because you or someone you love came to one of our hospitals or clinics for care, had a great experience and wanted to pay it forward. I also learned at least one of you is here because the care you received wasn’t so great, and you wanted to change that for the next patient.

I learned that quite a few of you are second- and third-generation employees, while others are first-generation Americans. You told me how, in your spare time, you enjoying gardening, reading, traveling, camping, cooking, coaching sports teams, leading scout troops, playing with grandchildren, singing in barbershop quartet competitions and even serving as the Nittany Lion at our events.

Some of you told me how you left more lucrative professions in pursuit of greater personal fulfillment, and you found that at our hospitals, outpatient practices and college. Thank you.

Most importantly – and this makes me proud to serve as your CEO – you told me you work here because you want to make a difference. This was our unifying theme. You want to help others, improve lives and be a part of something bigger than yourselves. You take pride in your work and in our organization.

We have undergone a lot of change in the past few years, and in your responses, I read about the obstacles we need to overcome as an organization. Our growing pains are impacting our quality of life, on and off the job. These same messages were echoed in our recent Employee Engagement Survey and as I said in last Monday’s message, I don’t have all the answers today, but addressing them is a top priority that is just getting underway.

I’m hoping we can work together to create an environment where each of us feels valued, respected and appreciated so that we are able to give our best every day to our patients, our students and each other.

Becky Ulsh, a radiologic technologist at our Robesonia outpatient practice in Berks County, said it well: “I am not only an X-ray tech, I am the face of what Penn State Health means to the people of this community.”

We all are the face of Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine, and while the challenges you raised are real, after reading so many of your stories, I am confident this organization is heading in the right direction because so many dedicated employees work here.

Thank you again for sharing your stories, as knowing more about you and your view of Penn State Health will better allow me and our leadership team to support this great organization.

We’ve received a lot of recognition recently for our accomplishments, and before I close, I want to highlight three of them:

• U.S. News & World Report named our Milton S. Hershey Medical Center among the best hospitals in the nation for orthopedics and urology. The hospital was also recognized as “high performing” in seven additional specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, and pulmonary.
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recognized outpatient practices within Penn State Health Medical Group’s academic and community divisions, as well as those within St. Joseph Medical Group, with a perfect score of 100 for outstanding quality in providing primary care for Medicare patients in 2018.
• The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognized our St. Joseph Medical Center for achieving Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus® with Honor Roll Elite and Heart Failure Gold Plus® with Honor Roll recognition. While St. Joseph has earned Gold Plus status for years, this is the first time it has achieved Honor Roll recognition.

Congratulations to all who contributed to these excellent achievements.

Thank you for all that you do, and please keep your stories coming.

Steve Massini
Chief Executive Officer

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