Page 52 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Make Everyone’s Dreams Come True 33

Patrick and his team set out to accomplish. To achieve the desired results,
Griffin implemented a mandatory two-day employee orientation program
that had to be completed before beginning patient care. Within the first six
months, employees must also attend an additional two-day retreat where
they share rooms and really absorb the experience of being patients. During
this retreat, employees participate in exercises to increase handicap awareness,
such as leading one another around blindfolded, walking with crutches, and
feeding one another. “It makes you think twice when you’re doing things
with patients…about what they must be going through,” says nurse Cathy
Higgins. “You understand what it’s like to lose control of your life.” 8
During most of this transformation, Charmel was COO and had respon-
sibility for the day-to-day operations of the entire hospital. His popular-
ity seemed to increase proportionate with the hospital’s escalating employee
engagement. Then, in 1997, Patrick and the former CEO of Griffin began to
differ on the hospital’s future goals and direction. The two men’s dreams for
achieving a world-class culture collided and forever altered the state of affairs
at Griffin Hospital. In Patrick’s words, “He was de-emphasizing the acute-
care side of the hospital and trying to develop our HMO. We were spending
a lot on this and depriving the hospital of the resources it needed.” The former
CEO decided it was time for Patrick to go and represented this decision to the
troops as “mutual.” No wonder people didn’t trust him! It was Thanksgiving
of 1997 when the announcement was made: Patrick would be leaving at year’s
end. The news not only shocked hospital and medical staff, it also stunned
many in the community. After all, Patrick had been the architect of Griffin’s
metamorphosis. Griffin Hospital was the largest employer in the community
and, if it failed, the community would be devastated.
As the New Year dawned, Patrick was gone but not forgotten. There
was a rumbling in the hospital halls; a series of maneuvers were underway
to bring Patrick back. The employees cried out in protest and penned an
underground newspaper, Griffin Uncensored; hospital physicians voted “no
confidence” in the current administration; and the community started a
yellow-ribbon campaign in and around the town of Derby. Local newspa-
per headlines: “We Want Pat Back” . . . “Employees & Docs, United We
Stand” . . . and “Unforgettable Thursday” spoke volumes. “Unforgettable
Thursday” referred to January 8, 1998, when as Griffin Uncensored reported,
“We made history when we stormed the boardroom and stood proud and
principled for our hospital and our community. This show of unity finally
(Continued)