"No one should have to die of a disease that is treatable." — Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, medical anthropologist, chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Gayle Capozzalo, executive vice president of strategy and system development at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System and new chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives, used that quote — and Dr. Farmer's overall perspective — as the basis of her address during the 2012 Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago March 19.
Dr. Farmer is also one of the founders of Partners in Health, which is renowned for its healthcare treatment of the poor in Haiti. She explained that as hospital and healthcare executives are confronted with "dramatic change," it will take mindsets like Dr. Farmer's to fulfill the vision of a better healthcare system.
Within that mindset, healthcare executives will have to move toward patient- and family-centered care, especially amidst the growing baby boomer generation. In addition, Ms. Capozzalo said healthcare organizations have to focus on inclusion and diversity of all forms, as healthcare disparities toward underserved populations should not be tolerated in the U.S. healthcare system. This, in turn, will ensure "patients' individual needs are recognized and met," she said.
Healthcare leaders will have to work together to create and implement this new vision, but she emphasized that collaborative leadership does not equal 100 percent consensus. Total agreement will only lead to paralysis, and it will take "bold" steps to rectify what ails the current healthcare system. "The most important lesson I've learned is significant change is only achieved through bold vision," Ms. Capozzalo said. "We need to step up beyond this veil of self-interest and find people capable of leading change in this new paradigm."
Gayle Capozzalo, executive vice president of strategy and system development at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System and new chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives, used that quote — and Dr. Farmer's overall perspective — as the basis of her address during the 2012 Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago March 19.
Dr. Farmer is also one of the founders of Partners in Health, which is renowned for its healthcare treatment of the poor in Haiti. She explained that as hospital and healthcare executives are confronted with "dramatic change," it will take mindsets like Dr. Farmer's to fulfill the vision of a better healthcare system.
Within that mindset, healthcare executives will have to move toward patient- and family-centered care, especially amidst the growing baby boomer generation. In addition, Ms. Capozzalo said healthcare organizations have to focus on inclusion and diversity of all forms, as healthcare disparities toward underserved populations should not be tolerated in the U.S. healthcare system. This, in turn, will ensure "patients' individual needs are recognized and met," she said.
Healthcare leaders will have to work together to create and implement this new vision, but she emphasized that collaborative leadership does not equal 100 percent consensus. Total agreement will only lead to paralysis, and it will take "bold" steps to rectify what ails the current healthcare system. "The most important lesson I've learned is significant change is only achieved through bold vision," Ms. Capozzalo said. "We need to step up beyond this veil of self-interest and find people capable of leading change in this new paradigm."
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