A Blue Ribbon Panel Update

Note from blog editor: more information and schedules of meetings available at http://www.cpmcbeyondmedicine.com/

This post was an e-mail sent to St. Lukes's doctors
from William Miller, M.D., Chief Medical Executive, St. Luke's Hospital

Blue Ribbon Update

The Blue Ribbon Committee had its first meeting last week which went very well. Dr. Steve Shortell, the Chair of the Committee and Dean of the School of Public Health at Berkeley, established that the plan is to keep St. Luke's open as an acute care hospital and that the charge to the committee is to make recommendations on how to achieve that goal. Mr. Scott Minick, the CPMC President of the Board, echoed Dr. Shortell's statement, reiterating that the Board is committed to St. Luke's and is asking the committee to help it find a viable way to keep the hospital open in the context of the plans for the medical center's other campuses.

Three St. Luke's physicians, Drs. Barnes, Kersh and Norrell, are serving on this committee. Dr. Kersh reported at the Quarterly Staff dinner that he felt optimistic about the process. The committee has asked for a long list of demographic and financial information related to St. Luke's and health care in San Francisco which will be provided by a neutral, independent consulting firm. The committee's next meeting will be Wednesday, April 16th, noon – 2:00 (location to be determined). These are open to the public.

Running in parallel to the Blue Ribbon Committee is a Community Outreach Task Force which is holding a series of community forums designed to gain input from stakeholders in the planning process. The Task Force will collate this input and present it to the Blue Ribbon Committee for consideration as part of their deliberations.

Two of these community forums will be held with the St. Luke's medical staff. The first was held last week on Wednesday at the monthly Doctor Talk. About 40 physicians attended and it was valuable in identifying issues of trust and communication that will be critical in the months to come, both around the Blue Ribbon process and preservation of the medical staff. The second medical staff forum will ask for input from you on what services and programs should be included in the plans for health care delivery on the St. Luke's site and will be Wednesday, April 2nd, noon-1:30 in the Griffin Room, lunch provided.

Please, come to the forum on April 2nd so that your voice can be heard.

Thank you,
William Miller, MD
Chief Medical Executive