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Currents As many of you may recall, the primary focus of our clinical enterprise planning activities in 1998 involved our transition to an Authority structure. In a recently held planning session, it was determined that we need to update the 1998 strategic plan for the clinical enterprise to more aptly address our direction under a new governance model. As a result, two work groups have been charged with the responsibility of outlining a set of strategic priorities for the clinical enterprise.  During the next 12 weeks, these groups will review a great deal of market data, and will work to build consensus in articulating a series of goals and objectives for the clinical enterprise. I will make every effort to keep you informed of this process as priorities are identified and selected as foci for this update to our strategic plan.  Although this planning exercise marks the retirement of the 1998 clinical enterprise strategic plan, it is important that we continue to focus on the Medical Center's tactical plan initiatives that are currently underway. Last week's introduction to a new customer service education initiative is one example of the work being addressed by the tactical planning groups. In the coming weeks I anticipate we will provide you with related updates on the efforts of parallel tactical planning work groups.  As most of you already know, the main hospital experienced an electrical outage for approximately seven hours on July 25.  In the midst of what could have resulted in chaos, I am proud to acknowledge that our staff remained calm, and kept our patients safe and at ease without occurrence. Additional details as discussed at our communications meeting are highlighted below. I would like to extend my personal gratitude to everyone who performed so admirably with demonstrated competence through this difficult period.  W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center Power outage caused by severe weather at power sub-station Pam Cipriano, Ph.D., administrator for Clinical Services and Hal Currey, Facilities and Capital Projects, reviewed the events following a power outage caused by severe weather that occurred at approximately 2 a.m. on July 25.  The outage was caused by the effects of severe weather at one of our power sub-stations and became further complicated when both of our back-up generators failed to provide emergency service.  The back-up generators that failed are being replaced and two temporary generators have been installed. Despite our exemplary performance during this crisis, departments were asked to review their disaster preparedness responsibilities. Hopefully, the recent power outage served as our only opportunity to test our emergency responsiveness abilities for the foreseeable future. However, given the heightened threat for severe weather in the months ahead, we will continue to stress the importance of disaster preparedness. Cipriano thanked all staff who were on duty for remaining calm under pressure and assuring patient safety under difficult circumstances. JCAHO Update Vivian Gettys, JCAHO program manager, announced that JCAHO employee handbooks soon will be distributed to department directors, managers and chairs. The purpose of the handbook is to summarize key information for staff about the Medical Center, its services, policies and procedures.  Please contact Gettys via email if you need additional copies. Laminated posters with continually updated JCAHO questions and answers will be posted throughout the Medical Center for educational purposes. The triennial JCAHO survey dates for the Medical Center have not been announced. However, a JCAHO survey of the special function lab areas is scheduled for Sept. 13-15. JCAHO survey preparation activities include visits with the JCAHO consultants, practice interviews, visits to patient care areas and staff education.