Our Values

Good morning.

I hope you’ve had a good start to the new year.

The change in the last digit of the calendar year also signifies the midway point of the fiscal year. By way of the briefest of updates on how things are going – they are going well. Thanks to your efforts, we are in a good position financially and operationally at this stage of the year. Let’s keep up the good work to finish strong and reach or exceed the goals we set.

Unbelievably, it is also time to begin thinking about the budget process for next year. I have heard from a few of you that there is confusion about our real financial standing. You may hear me make comments that the institution is in a strong position and then also hear reports from your department or unit leaders that resources are tight and we need to be very mindful of every decision we make. Both statements are true.

We are in a solid position today because we are being very careful and strategic about every expense and investment and methodically monitoring costs and returns. Over the last 12-24 months, we have been able to invest in our people (market and merit adjustments), capital equipment and improvements and (importantly) strategic growth. That is wonderful!

The only way we can continue to make those investments is to be very disciplined and accountable for the best use of all our resources. UMMC overall has many needs and many wonderful opportunities on the horizon, and we must examine every revenue possibility and expense incurred to be sure we can continue to grow to meet Mississippian’s needs.

But for today’s column, I want to share with you the officially adopted set of UMMC values. Over the years, various versions of unit/department/school-stated values have existed in places across the Medical Center, but we have never had a formal list. We have recently distilled all of those into the five listed below.

When paired with our mission and vision, our values provide a public-facing set of core principles that showcase the ideologies that we hold most dear. Our values serve as a guiding light, leading us through all our endeavors. These values have been adopted to cover the entire institution and every school, department, office, program, etc., under the UMMC umbrella.

• Integrity– Our shared dedication to honesty, principles, and serving the greater good
  
  
• Respect– Our belief that every person is worthy of consideration and kindness
  
  
• Excellence– Our drive to work harder, think deeper, and go above and beyond to transform good to great
  
  
• Compassion– Our commitment to treat everyone with sympathy and empathy
  
  
• Professionalism– Our goal of creating trust through appearance, conduct, communication, and character

These values are important singularly but yield the greatest impact collectively. Our goal is to consistently reflect them. Even if we don’t get something right, we can hold our heads high and know that we did our best and stood on a solid foundation of shared values. These values can help us establish a commitment to being the best caregivers, scientists, teachers and colleagues we can possibly be.

In addition to adding these values and definitions to our website and possibly other locations where our mission and vision are listed, they will be included as a component of the employee performance evaluation process. Including these values in that process is important as it recognizes and reinforces behaviors and performance that support UMMC's culture, mission and long-term goals. This approach also provides a framework that exemplifies these values and identifies areas for performance growth in a way that aligns with organizational expectations.

Commitment to any one of these can have a positive impact on whatever it is you are doing for the Medical Center or for yourself. Keeping all in mind and following this guiding light as we go about working to fulfill our mission gives us our best chance to ultimately reach our intended destination – A Healthier Mississippi.