• The journey comes to an end
  It was standing-room only in the O'Keeffe Auditorium Sept. 19 as MGH employees joined hospital leadership and surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for an important debriefing, that signalled the end of the surveyors' visit to the MGH.

• MGHers put themselves in the way: United Way campaign to kick off
  Familiar faces will be seen around the hospital beginning Oct. 6 when the MGH United Way
  campaign kicks off with posters of MGHers who support the United Way. The leadership portion of the campaign was launched at the hospitalwide leadership meeting, held Sept. 24 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium, with the unveiling of one of the posters featuring Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, and David Torchiana, MD, chairman and CEO of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization.

• Combining osteoporosis drugs does not improve bone density
  Combining two types of osteoporosis drugs does not improve bone density, according to a study by MGH researchers. Their report in the Sept. 25 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine describes how men with osteoporosis who received both alendronate and parathyroid hormone (PTH) actually had lower bone density at the end of the almost three-year study than did men receiving PTH alone.

• With a little help from our friends: MGHers succeed in blood donor challenge
  The numbers are tallied, and the results are in. After a competitive three-week challenge, winners have emerged. The annual blood donor challenge between the "Boston Red Cells"– MGH, MEEI and Spaulding – and the "Green Monsters"– BWH and Dana-Farber – concluded Sept. 12, with patients at all of the hospitals being declared as the true winners.

• MGHer receives patient safety award
  Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD, director of Biomedical Engineering for the MGH and Partners, will receive the John M. Eisenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in Patient Safety. The award is granted by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

• Strategic planning spotlight: New Business Opportunities Task Force
  Since the MGH embarked on an intensive strategic planning effort several months ago
  to determine the future direction of its clinical programs, members of seven task forces have been meeting, planning and preparing to make preliminary recommendations to the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Hotline will be highlighting the work of some of these task forces during the upcoming weeks. This week's highlight is the New Business Opportunities Task Force.

• MGH wage and salary program announced
  The MGH this week announced the fiscal year 2004 wage and salary program effective Sept. 28, that includes a performance-based increase ranging up to 4 percent. This year's General Hospital program is funded at 3 percent. Those who are above the maximum of their pay range are eligible for a bonus of up to 3 percent, which is funded at 2 percent.

• In General

• What's Happening

Hotline Home Page | Back Issues | News Releases | News & Information | MGH Home Page