A Message from the CEO - April 2025

I was at a dinner the other night and we were talking about Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics and its success over the years.*  We were talking about the concept of excellence in all different forms -- people see “good/great” differently.  I gave the example of a review of a restaurant that I read.  The person giving the review raved about the food and drinks and environment but said the server was clipped and short and didn’t seem like they wanted to be there.  They said it was off-putting.  (It would have made me uncomfortable.)  A person commented on the review and said, “Get over it; the food was good, what are you complaining about?”.  Whoa -- the whole package includes great service.  For me, it’s a significant part of my perspective of the encounter. 

It's been said of hospitals and healthcare - quality should be a given.  If you don’t produce quality results, you shouldn’t be in the business of providing healthcare.  If quality is an expected given, what differentiates one place from another?  Some places are beautiful; water features and beautiful wood and marble.  But if everyone is cold and rude, beautiful surroundings only go so far. 

In college, I worked as a bartender at the Lark outside of Iowa City.  It was ranked as the best steakhouse in Iowa while I was there.  It was located in a house in Tiffin, Iowa, and they bought the house next to it and the one on the other side (or that’s the story I heard).  Regardless, it was all about service and ambience; (it was dark as a cave in there).  It was jam-packed all the time.  The entire experience was the whole story … you had to drive a bit to get there, the food was awesome, you were treated as a friend or family member the minute you walked through the door, and when it burned down in 2004, its place as a legend in history was secured.  (There are stories like this everywhere.**)

How do we become legends?