1. Personal relationships are crucial. A lot of the literature about running a hospital talks about systems and processes, everything except developing a relationship. “Developing and keeping relationships is the most important thing of all,” Mr. Goldberg says.
2. Make yourself accessible. Mr. Goldberg distributes his telephone number and encourages everyone to call him at any time. He even takes calls at home in the middle of the night. These callers tend to be physicians and patients. “This is harder to do the older I get,” the 59-year-old CEO says.
3. Get out and be seen. “You can’t develop relationships if people don’t see you,” he says. For Mr. Goldberg, this means going to the hospital at 3:30 in the morning several times a year to be present for the night shift. For example, he helps distribute ice cream to the night shift during the Catholic feast of St. Alexius. “All three shifts should feel they are important,” he says.
4. Be responsive. When people say something they would like to get some kind of response. “Everyone likes to see a propensity for action, even if the message is you don’t agree with them,” he says. “People are stunned when you tell them the truth, even if you tell them, ‘I don’t think St. Alexius is the right place for you.’ ”
5. Say it in plain English. Consultants and others in healthcare tend to talk at the second-year level of college but most people comprehend at the seventh grade level. Mr. Goldberg says he does not talk as plainly as he would like to. “I would love to meet the kind of person who fully communicate so that everyone understands,” he says.
6. Be culturally sensitive. St. Alexius Medical Center observes the major holy days of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Jainism, as well as Christianity. Some physicians on staff as well as many patients observe one or another of these world regions. During the 30 days of Ramadan, for example, the hospital puts out fruit for observant Muslims to eat when fasting ends at sundown.
7. Reward individual achievement. Employees get a letter of recognition from Mr. Goldberg whenever they are commended by a patient, physician, fellow employee or outsider company, such as an insurer. These letters actually have value. One letter buys a meal in the cafeteria and five or six buy a St. Alexius jacket.
8. Recognize extra effort. Pizza is ordered for all three shifts when the hospital does well on a Joint Commission survey or is operating at full capacity.
Learn more about St. Alexius Medical Center.
