Looking Back Over 250 VC Notes

Good morning!

Today’s VC Notes is my last opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  If you celebrate a different spiritual tradition, I wish you blessings.  What all our traditions have in common is a time to be with friends and loved ones and to be grateful for what we have and for the gift of one another.

As always, I especially want to thank those of you who will be caring for our patients during the holidays.  We are grateful to you for shouldering this responsibility.

Today’s VC Notes also marks an anniversary of sorts.  This is my 250th VC Notes column.  That’s a milestone that I’m not sure even I thought was achievable when I became vice chancellor on March 1, 2015.

As I wrote in my very first VC Notes on March 6, 2015, “The Journey Begins,” I wanted to make a commitment to do a better job of communicating with you by producing this column on a weekly basis.  I also wanted to provide an easy way for you to communicate directly with me through the “Ask a Question” feature at the bottom of every issue.  And I’m pleased that you have responded with about 1,500 questions over the course of 250 columns.  In short order, I began the tradition of answering a representative sample of your questions on the last Friday of every month.

All of these columns are included in the VC Notes archive, accessible on the UMMC Intranet. You can also find the link to the archive in the nameplate at the top of every column.   

In reviewing all the other editions of VC Notes, a few stood out for me:

“Proceed with Courage” (May 22, 2015):  This marked my first commencement as vice chancellor, presided over by my mentor and friend Dr. Dan Jones in his final commencement as chancellor of the University of Mississippi.  “Proceed with courage” is the one bit of advice I always share with graduates as they face their future, and I realize now that on that day, it was just as applicable to me.

“Happy Anniversary to Us” (June 12, 2015):  This column recognized the 60th anniversary of the founding of the University of Mississippi Medical Center by a group of visionary leaders who left an indelible imprint on everything that has followed.

“Leapfrog and UMMC” (Nov. 2, 2015):  A large red “F” on the front page of the newspaper signified UMMC’s clinical quality grade from an industry observer.  This experience served as a highly visible call to action for us to double-down on our efforts to improve quality, and you responded.

“Spirit Doctors” (April 8, 2016): From a book I read once, the people around us in health care settings – not necessarily trained providers – who warm our hearts and lift our souls are known as spirit doctors.  We have many of them at UMMC.

“Unbreaking Our World” (July 15, 2016): A rash of mass shootings in public places across America caused us to reflect and try to “work from a place of peace.”

“The Pleasures and Perils of Social Media” (Nov. 11, 2016):  Although social media sites can entertain and uplift, they should come with a warning:  You represent UMMC beyond the confines of your job and what you post on social media can reflect poorly on all of us.  This column offered some guidelines to steer clear of trouble.

“UMMC by Night” (Dec. 16, 2016):  Connecting via Leadership Rounds with the 10-to-15 percent of our staff who don’t work an 8-to-5 schedule was enlightening.  This is a spirited, committed group of people who, for the most part, love to work the night shift. 

“Returning to What Matters Most” (April 7, 2017):  M3 Hadley Pearson’s remarks at the Barksdale Scholars luncheon resonated with me and many others.  She noted that although “loving Mississippi is hard,” we are called to do our part to make it better.

“Celebrating Our Leaders” (Aug. 18, 2017): This column marked the unveiling of portraits of two vice chancellors:  Dr. Dan Jones and Dr. Jimmy Keeton.  These men are very dear to me and many others and their leadership shaped UMMC in important ways. 

“Celebrating Our Differences” (January 19, 2018):  The first Pillars Awards ceremony held by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion signified our commitment to celebrating these values and continuing our progress toward becoming a diverse and inclusive organization.

“Hospitals, Nurses and Fighting for What Matters” (May 4, 2018): I shared my frustrations with the tactics of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi in renegotiating a fair contract in a message that resonated with the public. 

“We Are All Americans” (July 6, 2018): In celebration of the July 4 holiday, I made a fervent wish that we could be more united by our common identity as Americans.

“Appearance Matters” (Aug. 24, 2018): My frequent walks throughout the Medical Center drove home the conviction that all of us need to take pride in our surroundings and do our part to keep the place spiffed up.

“Where Were You?” (Sept. 14, 2018):  I posted this question on my Facebook account and received many moving responses from friends and colleagues who will never forget where they were and how they felt when our nation was attacked on 9-11.

“Our Not-So-Secret Weapon” (Oct. 5, 2018): In welcoming a guest from Africa, the UMMC community showed why our penchant for Southern hospitality empowers us even as it defines who we are.

“This is the Why” (Nov. 1, 2019):  In a stirring letter, the wife of a UMMC flight nurse who suffered cardiac arrest during a transport praised the care he received at the Medical Center.

Next week, I’ll have another “Five Questions” as we close out 2019 and prepare to move into – can you believe it? -- the Twenties.  I hope you have enjoyed reading VC Notes as much as I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you.  As I wrote at the outset, they chronicle our journey toward our shared future and, most importantly, our shared goal of A Healthier Mississippi.