>> I think what I love most about my job is that it is never monotonous,
never routine, each day is unpredictable.
The only predictability is how busy it is, the number of meetings I will be a part of,
but it really is never monotonous.
What I enjoy most about what I do is the opportunity to interact with people,
and when I interact with people, the part of the job I love most is when I'm
out in the organization, visiting the patient care units, and the other departments,
and really interacting with the people doing the real work, supporting patient care,
providing direct patient care, and making sure that they have the tools and equipment
to do their job, and empowering them to make decisions and to improve their processes
and systems, and breaking down barriers when they can't do that on their own.
Well, it's a little bit of what I just mentioned-the fact that we are
such a highly regulated industry creates enormous complexity.
We do not produce widgets that we can, in turn, price and simply sell on the market.
We're treating human beings.
And in doing so, there are inherent costs and invariability in terms of how we care
for the patients that we serve, and in dealing with insurance companies
and managed care organizations, there is the constant tension in terms of ensuring
that you are reimbursed fairly and appropriately to support that care, and to continue to invest
in the equipment, facilities, and people of the organization.
And sometimes those goals and directives are in conflict with one another,
and that is certainly a big challenge for any hospital president.