‘Tis the season for getting what you want

It is always interesting to me to see what “THE” gift of the season will be. I have overheard people basically negotiating their first born for one of those hoverboards. One set of parents gave their kids one for Hanukkah and already returned it after their son broke his wrists — 15 minutes after getting it!

Every one of my friends who has a child that is 10 years or under is asking for their own iPhone. Can you believe that?! The Hess truck craze was hot for a while, and they are still selling (and donating) those trucks like crazy. 

And I bet many of you remember the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, and anything Star Wars has continued to be a big hit.

The only thing I really remember coveting as a child for Christmas was this doll. Isn’t she beautiful? 

Of course that was 46 years ago, but when I found this photo on google, she is just as beautiful as I recall her to be!  

So, I wanted to know, what was your most coveted gift as a child for the holidays?

Happy Holidays everyone!

Our kids have different abilities, not disabilities.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to the kids that we serve is showing them that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. With a little hard work and some motivation from their loved ones, the sky is really the limit.

So when I got word that one of our patients, Ali Stroker, was making headlines on BROADWAY with her acting and singing I couldn’t wait to share the news with you all! She is staring in the Deaf West Theater production of Spring Awakening.

Ali is paralyzed from the chest down from a car accident when she was 2 years of age. She came to us for therapy and has been a shining star in her wheelchair ever since. But that didn’t stop her from pursuing her goals.

 

Here is Nichole Turmelle and her daughter, Zee, with Ali.

She has appeared on TV in “Glee,” “The Glee Project,” and onstage in “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the Paper Mill Playhouse – just to name a few of her projects.

So, let’s tie this back to us and why I wanted to share this with you guys. Our kids sometimes need a little extra boost of confidence to tackle that hurdle during their therapy sessions. And each one of you help to give that to them, encouraging them to push harder and give it all they can.

The holiday season is a time for us all to think back on our blessings throughout the year and show thanks. So as we enter this holiday season, I want you all to know that its stories like this – about our kids and how well they are growing after they’ve left us – that make me thankful to work alongside each of you.

You do amazing things here at Children’s Specialized Hospital. You help our patients reach their wildest dreams.

And like Ali shared in the article written about her, our kids don’t have disabilities – they have different abilities. 

RWJ/Barnabas – The Rumor Mill

So, since my email last week with the update to the Robert Wood Johnson and Barnabas merger I’ve gotten A LOT of questions. I answered some of them during my State of the State meeting last week, but in case some of you didn’t attend I wanted to make sure I clear up any questions here on the blog.

You all know it is my preference to deal with the issues directly, so I will continue to share the rumors I have heard and ask that if there are others – please post them in the comments below and/or email them to me. If I have the answers and can address them, I’ll do so here on the blog.

So, let’s get started.

Rumor: Amy was fired from Children’s Specialized Hospital and they moved her out.

I was not fired. Although being President of Children’s Specialized Hospital is the best job in the world because of both the work we do and each of you, this is a promotion for me. My mother even joked that I’ll really have no life now because I’ll be so busy.

Rumor: Joe Dobosh is retiring.

I am not even sure where this came from but No is the answer. Joe Dobosh is not retiring. Eventually he probably will, but not at this time.

Question: Where will your office be?

I will have an office in Plum Street in New Brunswick, but most of my time will be spent on the road working with the hospitals in the Southern region of RWJ Barnabas.

Question: Will Warren take your office in New Brunswick?

Yes, when the time comes to make the transition I will move my things out of my office at our New Brunswick Somerset Street office and Warren will move in. I’ve already given him some tips on how to rearrange the furniture!

Question: Will you still do your blog and the weekly wrap up?

This is a tricky one. No, I will not be in charge of the blog and the weekly wrap up anymore. Will Warren take over? That hasn’t been decided yet. Of course you’ll still be kept updated on what’s going on around the hospital, so much of what you’d normally share in the wrap up you should send to Megan Muller so we can share it in the Daily Huddles.

Question: Will Warren give us jean days?

I have no idea! This is something you’ll have to ask him about.

Question: Will you ever come back to see us?

You’ll still see me from time to time. I will attend events in my new role at all the hospitals and I will still be in New Brunswick (remember, I’ll have an office at Plum Street!). You may not see me as often, but I’ll still be around for sure.

Question: When is this going to happen?

The timing is dependent on when the Attorney General of New Jersey approves the merger. It could be a month or it could be a year. We don’t know the answer to this one yet, but I will share when I can. We are trying to be as proactive as we can so there are no surprises when this happens. That is why all three hospitals and our board have begun to discuss the movement of positions.

Question: Once Warren moves up, who will move into his role?

This is a great question, and from what I’ve heard some of you have already started to get some ideas on restructure! Warren will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to determine this new structure. Most likely that wouldn’t occur until after I move into my new role.

Question: Are you still CEO now?

Yes! Until the day that this transition takes place, I will continue to be the CEO of Children’s Specialized Hospital and continue on with my responsibilities in this position. Consider it business as usual until you hear otherwise.

Question: Will Children's Specialized Hospital be remaining an affiliate of the merged hospital, or will we become the children's hospital within the new organizational structure?

We will remain as an affiliate of the hospital.

Question: There's the RWJ University Hospital Foundation, Saint Barnabas Medical Center Foundation, and Children's Specialized Hospital Foundation. Will these stay intact or be combined?

The Children's Specialized Hospital Foundation is free standing, and not part of this merger.

Question from the comments: Can we see a picture of Warren, have never actually met him!!!
Warren's photo is listed in his contact in the phone directory. A simple search would have brought him up for you! It's also listed under his Give a WOW! profile. But, to save you the hassle, here is one from us today.

I am aware that this announcement of my departure and Warren's promotion may have come as a surprise to some of you. But I want to assure you all that you’re in good hands here. Warren and I have worked closely for many years at Children’s Specialized. I have no doubt that he’ll continue to lead you all to reach new heights and accomplish even more than I have.

I know that as time goes on, there may be other rumors or questions that come about. I will continue to update you all when I have more information that I can share, but I would appreciate if there are other things out there that you are curious about, please let me know so I can put them to bed.

So, what else do you want to know?

I didn’t mean it like that…

If you watch the news, you may have seen a recent story about National Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and the interaction that took place between a registration person and a 4-year-old girl and her mom. When mom began telling the registration person that the reason they were at the hospital was because a 4-year-old boy hit her daughter on the playground, resulting in her requiring stitches, the person (in an effort to make the child feel better) said, “I bet he likes you.”

Now, I can’t speak for this person but I think he probably meant to say, “I am sure he didn’t mean to hurt you…” But, after 35,000 shares of the Instagram picture of the child, this story took a like of its own that no matter how young the parties involved, violence is unacceptable and condoning it – especially when you are in a children’s hospital – it is can never happen. 

There is a question in Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In book that asks, “Where do you sit when you walk into an empty room?” Always, my first instinct is to think about who else will be in the room and whether there will be enough chairs for everyone.

Whether intentional or not, if you invite people to a meeting and don’t account for everyone, when someone walks in without a seat – regardless of who they are or what position they hold – they feel like the outsider; forgotten, maybe even unvalued. No one would ever intentionally devalue a colleague, but the perception is much stronger than the intent. Once you start down the path of having to explain, you have already lost.

We have power every day. I’m not talking about power because of your title. We have the power to influence in ways that we don’t think about frequently.

A kind word or a harsh word; a smile versus a sneer.

Every interaction with someone else is a chance to show who you are and what you stand for. We are flawed people and we do occasionally make thoughtless comments. Sometimes, like in my case, your mouth works faster than your head. At the end of those times, it is what you do next that matters.

National Children’s Hospital publicly and privately thanked the Mom for coming forward with the issue and allowed them to improve her experience with them.

For us, when those moments happen, we need remember to pause, go back, and make it better – whether with a parent or a colleague. The silence, before it is remedied, tends to be the the thing that eats away at you, causing unnecessary stress and pain. Let’s proactively avoid that.

Thankful for…

I've shared before that Thanksgiving has always been my Mother’s holiday. As an only child that meant that everyone came to our house and there was huge excitement. As my parents have gotten older, I now bring the turkey and sides while my Mom makes her three favorite things and sets the table.

It is always a dramatic scene trying to get the cooked turkey to their house, but somehow we always work it out!

When my parents were first married – over 59 years ago –  the story exists about how my  Aunt made an apple pie. Now, I am not sure what went wrong but my mother couldn’t cut the pie. No really, the crust was so hard that she ended up getting a carving knife for my Dad to do it.

This of course is all while trying to play it off as if nothing was wrong. It happened before I was born, but the story is still shared over and over.

There is also the Thanksgiving that my Mother’s goddaughter was 5 years old and decided that she was only eating peas and pumpkin pie. In our house, we could care less as long as she ate something. But it was quite a sight with the peas and pie on the same plate.

My cousin’s wife said that it took years to get used to what she refers to as, “The Thanksgiving March." If the weather was nice enough, there was a mandatory walk after dinner, before dessert. Keep in mind, this was way before my FitBit obsession!

The men would leave the table and go for a walk around the property. The women would stay back to wash dishes and get the table ready for dessert. My mother didn’t care about the walk – she wanted them out from underfoot!

Another reason why (besides the fun family memories) I love Thanksgiving is because it is a holiday that everyone celebrates in America. We are taking a day to count our blessings and to say Thanks for all that we have been given.  You know that at the top of my list is to work with each of you. You are the finest, most caring and talented group of people. Your selflessness towards each other and our children is extraordinary.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Do you have funny Thanksgiving stories that you would share? Or something that you’re especially thankful for?

Who is your person?

So, there are a few of you I can count on at every employee meeting to ask me a question. And when I say count on, I really mean count on. You guys are the first to raise your hand, and always willing to fill an awkward pause (although there rarely are any).

I know there are questions that you guys have, and I hope you know that I truly appreciate when people put it all out there on the table – especially the tough ones!

Theresa DeFosse (Rehab Tech, New Brunswick) is one of those people I can rely on when it comes to asking questions, so I asked her for some help on some blog ideas.

So, I want to share something with you guys. I can see the number of views that the blog gets, and I’ve noticed that the numbers have been dropping a bit.  I’ve asked you guys for some ideas on things you want to hear about, but I didn’t get many! 

Back to Theresa. She likes to think about it for a bit, and then will send me an email with some topics or issues. Recently, she sent me the push on reminding people why voting matters right before Election Day. You probably saw my email about it, so you can thank her for giving me that boost!

Well, it made me start to think about how much some of us use friends and trusted advisers to be better—better leaders, colleagues, parents, children,  friends, etc.

I am blessed with trusted colleagues and friends who I can work through any issues that come up where the path just isn't clear for me. It is such a gift to have these resources!

Yes, management books and Ted Talks provide tools, but there is nothing like that trusted friend or colleague who is going to tell you straight. And definitely nothing like that one person who will raise their hand and put issues on the table.

So who is that person for you – the person you go to when you need to work something out? What are the things you value about them? Or maybe you would be willing to share how you serve as that person for others and what lessons you have learned from these relationships?

Also, don’t forget to leave me some comments about topics you want me to talk about at the employee meetings. They are coming up fast!

Rock stars of Quarter 4

Doesn’t it feel like we just announced our first Employees of the Quarter? Time sure flies! Today we’re sharing our Employees of Quarter 4. These five (5) employees were nominated by their peers for having gone above and beyond in exemplifying our Core Values and Service Excellence Standards.

Our Q4 honorees are:

• Maria Fermin – Registration Rep, Patient Access Services, Hamilton
• Ryan Sharkey – Desktop Support Technician, Information Technology, Stevens Road
• Amy Norton – Intake Coordinator, Feeding Program, Mountainside
• Kimberly Baglieri – Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapist, Mountainside
• George Greene – Maintenance Mechanic, Facilities Management, New Brunswick

We could tell you how great they are ourselves, but let’s let their nominator share why they nominated them:

Maria Fermin

“Maria is the epitome of a team player. She works so hard every day to make sure our patients and their families have a great experience at CSH. She is a jack of all trades whether working the greeter position, printing cards or just taking the time to talk to patients and their families. She knows all the patients by name, what kind of stickers they like and remembers everything they say to her. She makes everyone else's job easier and her personality lights up the lobby. She's great and I'm extremely proud to have her as a colleague.”

Ryan Sharkey

“Ryan is always available to help and goes above and beyond to find a resolution to any issue that comes up. He is very patient when dealing with all of the staff... He is a team player and exemplifies the Teamwork/Collaboration Value. He also shows the value of Excellence by knowing the various computer systems and always finding an answer if he does not have one immediately for you.”

Amy Norton

“Amy embodies every CSH value and service excellence standard. Because of her compassion and innovation, she went above and beyond her role as Feeding Team Coordinator to start the Kohl's funded community free developmental screening clinic program. Because of her excellence and teamwork, she went beyond that to make sure that daycares in low income areas had access to these clinics. This included holding a clinic in a family support organization that served the Haitian community, a group that is particularly hard hit and underserved. Because of her compassion and integrity, she linked child care program staff from high resource (Princeton) and low resource (Trenton program for the homeless) to ensure that ALL kids received quality services. Because of her pride in CSH, dedication, follow through, sincerity, and all CSH values, she reached out and created networks and connections, resulting in developmental screening training being incorporated for all quality child care programs in NJ, with CSH having the contract, and Amy designing and implementing the training curriculum. Because of her sense of fun, she uses her extraordinary baking skills to always make a treat for all Feeding and Autism Dept trainings and meetings, thus creating a literally nurturing and welcoming environment at all times.”

Kimberly Baglieri

“Kim was an OT student at our Clifton site and as a student she demonstrated a commitment to learning and to the practice of occupational therapy. As a student Kim exemplified Children’s values and was a committed member of the OT department and we knew she would be an asset to the Children’s team. While Kim is a relatively new clinician, her passion and dedication to her role at Children’s is seen in her embracing the job of updating the student lecture series. Kim has been leading the OT team and working collaboratively with the PT team to organize, revise, and develop interdisciplinary and discipline specific student educational modules so we can provide the best clinical education and experience to our next generation of clinicians. Kim’s passion for OT, her commitment to her purpose and dedication to her patients and families is apparent in her leadership with this project and in her daily interactions.”

George Greene

"George consistently meets all of our values/standards. He is reliable, courteous, & efficient in his follow-through. He wears a smile and anticipates the needs of others. George engages in innovative team approaches to making CSH a fun & safe environment. George comes to every encounter with respect & compassion whether for staff, patients, families, or vendors. George wears his pride in being a member of our staff & in his pride for our organization in his daily demeanor. George is calm no matter the situation – staff knows when he walks into a situation that it is under control. He is able to prioritize various aspects of the environment including not only safety but also patient/family needs and immediate or upcoming therapy/nursing needs. Most of all, George defines integrity. He is a pleasure to work with and it is an honor to nominate him."

Congratulations to all five of you for being recognized for your hard work and dedication to our patients, families, and each other. You will each be rewarded with a $50 gift card and an item of your choice from our Give a WOW! gift shop, as well as be considered for our Employee of the Year.

If you have a colleague that you feel should be rewarded for going above and beyond both at Children’s Specialized Hospital and in their community, please submit an Employee of the Quarter nomination in Give a WOW! Questions on how to do this? Please contact Megan Muller at x7135 or memuller@childrens-specialized.org.

Comment below to leave a congratulations message for each of our Employees of the Quarter.