By Karin League, MSN, RN, NEA-BC and James Nataro, MD, PhD, MBA, FAAP
Welcome to the new integrated version of Kids Matter. We are very excited to share with you our thoughts on the future of the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. First of all, we are changing Kids Matter to reflect our philosophy that to move forward in the most efficient way we have to move forward as one. The Medical Center and the Department of Pediatrics are working in a more integrated model to eliminate waste, pool resources, and share common goals.
We are first and foremost grounded in our mission, vision, and values. Concentrated effort on achieving our organizational goals will help us realize our vision. We feel it’s important to include a review of the mission, vision, values, and goals as they are the foundation upon which we will build our future.
Health System Mission: To provide excellence, innovation and superlative quality in the care of patients, the training of health professionals, and the creation and sharing of health knowledge within a culture that promotes equity, diversity and inclusiveness.
Children’s hospital Mission: We aspire to produce outcomes in all three aspects of the mission that are equal to those of any institution in the country, but to do so in a small, friendly, patient-, family- and community-centered environment.
Children’s Hospital Vision: In all that we do, we work to benefit human health and improve the quality of life. We will be:
- Our local community’s provider of choice for its healthcare needs
- A national leader in quality, patient safety, service and compassionate care
- The leading provider of technologically advanced, ground-breaking care throughout Virginia
- Recognized for translating research discoveries into improvements in clinical care and patient outcomes
- Fostering innovative care delivery and teaching/training models that respond to the evolving health environment
- A leader in training students and faculty in providing healthcare free of disparity
Health System Values: This institution exists to serve others and does so through the expression of our core values:
- Respect: To recognize the dignity of every person
- Integrity: To be honest, fair and trustworthy
- Stewardship: To manage resources responsibly
- Excellence: To work at the highest level of performance, with a commitment to continuous improvement
Health System Goals:
- To become the safest place to receive care
- To be the healthiest work environment
- To provide exceptional clinical care
- To generate biomedical discovery that betters the human condition
- To train heath care providers of the future to work in multi-disciplinary teams
- To ensure value-driven and efficient stewardship of resources
How do we bring our vision to fruition?
To attain clinical excellence, we need first to recognize that we can and must always get better. Institutions throughout the country have found that they can continually improve their processes and their outcomes by looking at them very carefully in a quantitative and analytical way. Our Be Safe culture is an effective framework to drive for excellence by solving problems to the root and creating innovative solutions.
Our research mission is also very important. Through the Child Health Research Center we will foster cutting edge research that improves the lives of children.
In the area of education, we have much to be proud of in the quality of the residency program as well as in the training of numerous nursing students, paramedics, and other allied health professionals in the region. A focus on training in teams will better simulate real life situations.
Lastly, it is vital that we see the Children’s Hospital as a team with the common goals articulated above. These teams cut across departments, domains and locations. Every member of the team is important, as every contribution is essential to caring for children and their families.
Thanks for the amazing work you all do every day!
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