“We dance even if
there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and
live too large and, frankly, we’re suspicious of others who don’t.” - Chris
Rose, 1 Dead in Attic, 2006
New Orleans celebrates 296 years this year, thanks to
the dogged persistence of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, who must have
been somewhat mad when he stood on the banks of the Mississippi River and
declared that the city would be cut from the mosquito infested wilderness. Come
hell and a whole lot of high water, New Orleans and the people who love her
have been rejoicing in the preposterous ever since!
People ask me all the time, “What’s so special about
New Orleans?” After all, the city has
more than its fair share of poverty, crime, corruption, heat, humidity and
mosquitoes, right? So what’s the big
deal? The big deal boils down to
this: It’s the people; more to the point, it is the emotional
connection the people of New Orleans have to the city itself. Everything else
that’s special about the Big Easy flows from that…the music, the food, the
spirit, the connection people have to one another, the sheer exuberance of the
place. Actor John Goodman once said,
“There’s an incomplete part of our chromosomes that gets repaired or found when
we hit New Orleans. Some of us just belong here.” Remember the horrific pictures that came out
of Katrina? Almost a million people
evacuated the city, but despite the overwhelming devastation, the minute the
National Guard opened the city back up, almost a million people came back,
joined hands and rebuilt the city they love.
OK, so Bob loves New Orleans, that doesn’t come as a surprise to any of
you. But what does that have to do with running a hospital? Here’s the link: To have a truly exceptional hospital with
exceptional people providing exceptional care, we have to be emotionally
connected to what we do. It is why I say
what we do is a mission, not a
job. It is an opportunity, every day,
every patient, every encounter to have a life changing impact on another human
being. It is about our connection to
each other and to the history of our hospital and those who served before us. It is understanding and embracing that this hospital is special and what we do is special and therefore that makes us
special, too.
There is something we say to one another down in
“N’Awlins":
“Be a New Orleanian…wherever you are.”
Carry the city, the spirit, the energy, the connection with you wherever
you go. So here’s what I say to you
today: “Be a healthcare hero, wherever you are.” ~ Bob
Prehn
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