• MGHers work hard to make a difference
  With the June 29 poster display and reception for the 2005 Making a Difference grant program approaching, this year's 20 grant recipients are hard at work putting the final touches on their projects. The Making a Difference grant program — sponsored by the MGH and the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization — offers up to $5,000 in support of employee initiatives to improve the quality of care at the hospital for patients, their families and employees.
  

• Helping employees realize their dreams
  Carlos Vasco, an employee in MGH Patient Transportation, is college-educated and worked
  as an engineer in his native Colombia. When he came to America in 2002, he spoke so little English that his interview with patient transport supervisor Krys Klincewicz was conducted through an interpreter. With Klincewicz's support, Vasco currently is enrolled in a pre-college English reading and writing class through the Partners in Career and Workforce Development (PCWD) program, improving his fluency and preparing to advance his career.

• Batter up: MGHers throw the first pitch
  An MGH all-star team had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Red Sox vs. the Seattle Mariners game May 6. The six MGH doctors and nurses were selected for being primary caregivers of Terry Francona, team manager for the Red Sox, who was hospitalized in early April.
  

• Learning more about quality and safety from employee-patients
  As a part of the hospital's ongoing effort to improve the quality and safety of patient care, the MGH is launching a project that will explore the patient's perspective on the care they have received. For the next three months, an MGH team will conduct confidential interviews of MGH employees and staff — who also are patients at the hospital — to find out more about their patient care experiences.
  

• Immune factor may improve Crohn's disease symptoms
  A drug that stimulates a specific part of the immune system may improve symptoms of Crohn's disease, according to a study in the May 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). An MGH-led research team reports that treatment with the growth factor GM-CSF significantly reduced symptom severity and improved quality of life after 56 days of daily drug injections.
  

• Haddad lecture features prominent Harvard economist
  The third annual Ernest M. Haddad Lecture in Law and Ethics took place April 28, featuring guest speaker David Cutler, professor of Economics and associate dean for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for Social Sciences at Harvard University.

• MGH to host health care disparities conference
  Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, and members of the MGH Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities invite all employees and staff to attend the Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Conference June 27, from noon to 1 pm in the O'Keeffe Auditorium.

• What's Happening

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