I thought about writing about the RAGBRAI debacle. It’s been top of mind for me since last week. For those who aren’t following the “debacle” - the guy hired by the Des Moines Register for the last 16 years quit the paper and is starting another ride to compete with RAGBRAI on the same week - big split, and there are specific reasons. I don’t care … I really don’t … my main thought during this whole time is my vacation is being interrupted for specific reasons that have nothing to do with me or our hospital team. My thoughts during the week are focused on “where is the beer tent?”, “is my air mattress leaking?” and “how do I eat more pork?”; this is pretty much it. I’m filing this under “don’t rain on my parade”.
Speaking of rain. Just stop.
ISH was invited to a discussion group to discuss recruitment in rural Iowa communities. The room was filled with representatives from the colleges, state government, Iowa medical societies, Iowa Hospital Association, a couple of other hospitals, and us. Cindy and Micki joined me, and I think I probably should have stopped at one gallon of coffee instead of two. We presented our story - small becomes big and admired (I’m biased). Despite the lack of a big system helping us, despite the fact that we don’t have tax dollars subsidizing our operations, despite the fact that Wright County (for all its good stuff) is not an easy place to recruit people to … DESPITE all of this, we are incredibly successful. We are strong because we have to be. We are strong because our product is amazing, and we are strong because excellence is expected and achieved. Well done team! You make me so proud!
We’ve been asked over the years how is that we’ve achieved and sustained all that we have. I would venture that the reason lies in a couple of things. 1. Accountability - we have expectations and measurements for everyone, every department, and the system. 2. Integrity - regardless of the time of day or if no one is watching, we follow our standards. 3. Humility - we admit when we make mistakes or we need help. And - 4. We are nice, and we are kind, and we show love.
