Letter from the Chief Medical Officer
Dear colleagues,
Words cannot begin to express my appreciation for the privilege you have all afforded me during my tenure as your chief medical officer. The progress this institution has made is nothing short of astounding, even as resources have become progressively more constrained and regulatory obligations more extensive. Now, with our executive leadership team firmly in place and a clearly defined strategic plan being articulated, it is time for me to step aside from my current position.
When I assumed this role more than a decade ago, my personal goal was to facilitate the Brigham becoming a safer and more comfortable and more compassionate place for our patients, their families, our employees and professional staff. To the extent those efforts have been remotely successful is a tribute to all of you.
We brought bar-code eMAR technology to BWH and saw a significant reduction in transcription and medication administration errors, as well as potential drug-related adverse events. We introduced the award-winning Balanced Scorecard system to the hospital and founded the vibrant Physician Assistant Service, enabling us to establish and sustain career paths of the more than 100 physician assistants practicing here.
We established the Center for Bioethics to support clinicians, researchers, patients and their families who are confronting ethical issues in clinical medicine and to foster interdisciplinary research in bioethics and encourage moral reflection on ethical issues in research. And, together we created the BWH Physician Council, the Brigham Leadership Program and the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support.
Our research community has grown monumentally, and the formation of the Biomedical Research Institute has strengthened it. The discoveries our researchers have made in virtually every area of disease and medicine have enhanced our understanding of diseases and contributed greatly to prevention and treatment.
These accomplishments – and so many more – are a testament to your talents and commitment to leadership on every level and to continuous quality improvement. I have been inspired every step of the way by your dedication, your intellectual vigor and the tremendous and abiding compassion you show to our patients and their families.
Dr. Betsy Nabel has initiated a process to select my successor, and I look forward to facilitating a smooth transition during the next few months. I plan to remain on board to focus on more specific improvement projects for the foreseeable future in an “emeritus” capacity.
Sincerely,
Andy Whittemore, MD
Chief Medical Officer