Farewell, Charlene and Robert Stuart

Dear Charlene and Rob,

Weâve been so busy, so preoccupied with Joint Commission stufföpolicies, procedures, EOC, PI, memorizing the blue-blue-red-red booklet, and, of course, the Tom and Pam High Anxiety Quiz÷that it would be easy to ignore your resignations. Itâs unfortunate that the Joint Commission survey has so coincided with your departure. JCAHO has come and gone, and soon youâll be gone too!

I donât want the frenzied JCAHO activity, however, to detract from the significance÷and pain÷of your leaving. It would be easy to slip into old cliches: ăItâs not like we wonât see each other again,ä or ăWe can always write, or call, or e-mail.ä But no, you are leaving; it will not be the same without you, and when our paths cross again, it will be very different. Grief is hard work; very hard work. The greater the loss, the greater the grief, the harder the work. It is hard to let go, to detach, to appropriately disconnect. It is work that I would just as soon avoid. But it is also necessary in order for us to move into a new future feeling whole, institutionally, professionally and emotionally healthy, and with a clean commitment to our new leadership. So grieve we must; and move on into a future without you we must also!

Each of you, Charlene and Rob, leaves behind legacies and separate communities feeling forever grateful for the impact you have made on their lives. Rob, it is not possible to exaggerate your significance to the folks of 8W, whether patients, families or other staff. You have been 8W, the HOPE unit, named by you. The pictorial review of peopleâs faces given to you as a gift by your friends on 8W is an accurate expression of what itâs been about-- people, relationships, teamwork, friends, a mission and healing. There is a series of very special 8W patients to me who, when I think of them, also always draw you into the picture. You cared so completely. You gave new substance to the model of the physician as healer; your patients and/or their families will never forget! Nor will your colleagues.

Charlene, you were our leader. You took control of this craft during perilous times. You wanted the job, you were made for it, it was made for you, you and the job grew together. I have sometimes wondered what your job description might have been! You sensitively but also courageously steered us directly into and through the Change Management storm.

You charted with us a new beginning to meet the challenges÷and opportunities÷of the uncertain, new health care industry. We not only envisioned survival but a better, more responsive integrated health care delivery system.

We were equipped with new management skills and, with our feet firmly planted in our rich history, we faced the new future guided by a newly formulated mission statement, vision and values. You didnât need to bite our ears often, but when you did÷as with our pitiful EPMS completion rate÷we knew you meant business, and we responded! You wouldnât let us forget that ultimately we have only one purpose: the patient. Within two years after Change Management we were named a top-100 hospital! As part of that process you also led us in the finer spiritual virtues of trust, hope, forgiveness, starting again, believing in ourselves, each other and the future, and consistently doing our best. That you kept your leadership focused and unflappable while others negotiated the future of the institution of which you were CEO is a tribute to your courage and trust. If leadership is ăthe ability to hide your panic from others,ä you hid your panic very well indeed.

Charlene, you were also our friend. You agonized with us when the way was unfamiliar, perilous and uncertain. You too suffered when the ranks had to be changed, reduced and restructured. You laughed and played, cajoled and danced with us. You shared your stories with us and listened closely as we shared our stories with you. We learned our Myers-Briggs personality profiles÷and that God is the archetypal INFP÷together. In the process we became a team, equipped to not only meet the emerging healthcare opportunities but even shape them, and finally, ready at last to meet the JCAHO survey team with confidence, maturity÷and a well-articulated and memorized mission statement. Your team will do you proud. Weâve had a leader and friend who modeled our missionâs values of excellence, adaptability to change, respect for others and accountability for outcomes.

I remember well the occasion almost six years ago when I met you. You were one of numerous folks with whom I interviewed. I remember what happened inside me; your enthusiasm, your optimism, your energy as well as your almost brutal honesty were infectious and could only result in a decision that I wanted to be part of this institution! On the way out of the conference room you introduced me to your rather shy, quiet physician-friend!! That was a great day in my life. And I have not been disappointed though the road has certainly been far more vicissitudinal than either of us could have anticipated.

It is unfortunate that recognitions related to your achievements here, and farewell tributes, will come almost entirely from the Medical Center management team and MUSCâs central administration. You have been the vice president for clinical affairs and CEO, however, of the entire Medical Center including bedside nurses, clerks, administrative assistants, housekeepers, medical residents, volunteers÷all of us. Hopefully my expressing my appreciation to you through The Catalyst will encourage others from wherever they are situated on our personnel spectrum to also express their personal comments to you and to engage themselves in the grieving that must be done whenever a significant loss happens.

Several years ago a nurse on Robâs unit, 8W, after the death of a particularly special patient, Robâs patient, gave me a poem that says, ăMost people come into our lives and leave rather unnoticed; others come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same.ä Rob and Charlene, I know I speak also for not a small number of your colleagues, friends, patients, families; thank you for the footprints you leave on our hearts. It is painful to bid you farewell, but we will move on, enriched and by far the better for our paths having crossed. We wish you well.