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Chairman's Corner
Judith A. Bishop, Chairman/CEO
In his landmark book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, author Jim Collins analyzes organizations that have successfully stood the test of time – companies like GE, IBM and Johnson & Johnson. The real difference between these companies and lesser companies, he writes, is their ability to preserve their organization’s values, reinforce their values, and mesh their values with everyday business practices.
Living our values is important during normal times, but the true test is when times are tough. How do we respond when our backs are to the wall and even life itself hangs in the balance?
Just as Hurricanes Rita and Ike tested the resolve of our Texas employees a few years ago, Tennessee employees faced their own catastrophic event recently as unprecedented rains (14 inches in 48 hours) flooded the Greater Nashville area.
Roads and bridges were inaccessible. Electricity, gas, and phone lines were down, making it difficult, if not impossible, to communicate with our patients. That did not stop Julie Wallace, clinical supervisor in the Franklin office. For two very long days, she was the life-line between patients, their families, and emergency personnel, coordinating relief efforts for our patients with the Red Cross, police, and rescue teams in a five-county area.
Our Franklin hospice office faced similar challenges. They could not reach an oxygen-dependent patient whose house was surrounded by flood waters. Finally, the patient’s daughter contacted our on-call nurse and informed him that the electricity was out; the patient was using her back-up oxygen tank and would be out of oxygen within a few hours. Back-up oxygen tanks were ordered from the DME provider, but they could not deliver them due to flooded roads. Our nurses were persistent, if not tenacious, and refused give up on this patient! They contacted Emergency Management and an EMS team delivered the oxygen by boat.
When I hear such stories, I am reminded again of why I love this company. We have people that care. We have people that are not content to just grab a paycheck – they want to make a difference in the lives of others. And when circumstances call for courage, character, and commitment, we have people that step up and show their true colors.
With such people on our team, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish! Like the great companies mentioned in Collins’ book, we, too, live by our values and we, too, are built to last – 41 years and counting.
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