The Hospital That Pays Together Stays Together
What do you do when your hospital is in budget trouble and layoffs are expected? Well, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the department heads open their wallets and decide to pony up some of their own hard earned money to keep their departments afloat.
According to the Wall Street Journal Health Blog, "heads of 13 medical departments say they'll donate a combined $350,000 to the hospital -- about $27,000 from each one's annual pay -- to further cut down on expected staff layoffs."
How's that for taking responsibility for one's institution? In an era where we see nothing but a lack of accountability from leaders on Wall Street and corporate corruption, it's refreshing to see leaders in medicine, at at least one institution, saying with their pocketbooks that they want their institution to survive in these tough economic times. Let's hope that other institutions can follow their example and that everyone can give a little bit where they can to ensure that healthcare institutions in dire financial straights do not falter and the workers who need jobs in a tough economy keep their jobs.
Summer Johnson, PhD
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