Caring With an Open Heart- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Caring With an Open Heart- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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June 15, 2001
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In This Issue:
Caring With an Open Heart
BWH, Minority Program Score Thanks to NE Patriots
Beyond the Headlines
Service Support Recognition Week
Twins are focus of Safon Lecture
Who’s News
Pike Notes
Compassionate Care Scholars
On Wednesday, June 6, the Second Annual Dennis Thomson Compassionate Care Lecture and Scholar Award Presentations were held in Carrie Hall. The Compassionate Care program recognizes providers from any discipline who embody the tenets of compassion in their daily work, and provides those Scholars with the opportunity to develop a project that will foster compassionate care in their clinical area. The June 6 event reminded the audience of the power of compassionate care and celebrated those BWH caregivers who have developed projects to enhance compassionate care among colleagues in their respective areas. “Compassion is at the root of medicine,” began BWH President Jeff Otten. “In the midst of high tech gadgetry and cutting edge science, we sometimes lose sight of the reason we became involved in the calling of health care. It is only appropriate for us to take pause then and consider the nature of providing care to our patients and their families,” continued Otten. “Dennis Thomson recognized the importance of taking that pause better than most. He served as a constant presence to remind us of the nature of our mission here at the Brigham, and that is why it is so appropriate to have this program bear his name,” added Otten, to the large audience in attendance, which included Thomson’s son Jeffrey and his wife Betsy Broadman. Joan Hadly, chief development officer, and also friend and colleague of Thomson, delivered a tribute to him, focusing on his many noble attributes. Many of these attributes were recurrent themes in the presentation delivered by the keynote speaker Reverend Cheng Imm Tan. Appointed by Mayor Thomas Menino in 1998, Tan is the director of the Office of New Bostonians. She is also an affiliate minister with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry. In addition to leading the city’s diverse communities into the economic, civic, social and cultural life of Boston, Tan has been at the forefront of community outreach in the city. It is from her vast experience that she delivered her presentation “Caring with an Open Heart.” As an immigrant, Tan herself was often intimidated by the health care system. “Navigating the health care system is confusing,” said Tan, who commended the caregivers at BWH for their patience and assistance in guiding patients through what can often be a stressful time. “Health has to do with every aspect of our lives…To be healthy is to be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy,” she said. “Unfortunately, we live in a social environment that is far from healthy.” Tan went on to describe the challenges that arise from providing care to an increasingly diverse population. According to Tan, 140 languages are spoken in Boston and the city’s population represents more than 100 different nations. She urged caregivers not to lose site of their patients’ different perspectives and to make compassion a constant from one patient to the next. “Compassionate care is loving and caring with an open heart,” said Tan. Tan concluded her address by quoting Mother Teresa. Said Tan, “We cannot do great things, we can do small things with great love.” The principles highlighted by Tan are demonstrated by last year’s and this year’s Compassionate Care Scholars. Peter Black, MD, chairman, Neuro-surgery, and a 2000 recipient, described his year as a scholar and explained to the audience that “by displaying compassionate care—being attentive, kind and listening to those in our care—we heal ourselves.” “It’s a challenge to do what we do,” said Andy Whittemore, MD, chief medical officer, who was joined by vice president of Patient Care Services Nancy Kruger, DNSc, RN and Jeff Thomson for the presentation of the 2001 Compassionate Care Scholar Awards. The former vice president of Public Affairs at BWH, Thomson passed away in 1998 after a battle with cancer. The Compassionate Care Program was created in 1999 to honor Thomson’s respect for care and compassion between patients and their caregivers.