Greetings of the holiday season to all!
A friend of mine has a bumper sticker that reads “WARNING: DATES IN CALENDAR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!” Ain’t that the truth! I expect you are all feeling as much whiplash as we are at how quickly another year is drawing to a close. As artificial and corny as it seems, I’ve always appreciated the year end–new year pause to reflect, appreciate wins, absorb losses, and evaluate goofs – and plan ahead for fewer of the latter and more of the former.
Looking ahead to the new calendar year, the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care has a number of exciting events and additions to our catalog coming up. We are also expanding our staff and capacity to keep up with the rapidly evolving needs of clinicians in palliative care and care management. Early in the year, we’ll be surveying our constituents to get more specific feedback on what those needs are. In the meantime, feel free to message us with any suggestions or give us a call at (760) 750-4006.
Palliative care is what all healthcare would be if we could start over with a blank slate.Mark Ganz
I’m ending the year a little exhausted by the learning curve of taking up the leadership at the Institute, but much relieved by the committed, skilled, and thoroughly delightful members of our team! With my feet more firmly under me, I’m hoping to raise our eyes a bit above the day-to-day fray to make sure we continue to connect with the real work that we – and you – are doing: transforming healthcare at the bedside, in the boardroom, and out on the boulevard; for patients, organizations, and communities.
Way back in the 1970s, Walter Cronkite, the long-time news anchor for CBS, famously quipped, “the American health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system!” Palliative care is changing that – returning the CARE to healthcare, emphasizing health and wellness rather than just absence of disease, and working to rationalize and humanize processes across the board. More recently, Mark Ganz, president and CEO of Cambia Health Solutions, remarked at a conference that “Palliative care is what all healthcare would be if we could start over with a blank slate.” Yes!
So when you get a chance over the holidays take a few moments to reflect on your year, with all its losses, goofs, and wins. And if it feels like the losses and goofs outnumber the wins, remind yourself that you are changing the world. And we’re here to help you do it.
Happy Holidays and a FABULOUS New Year.
