We're thankful for the ability to innovate in difficult times

NOV 24, 2021

Despite the peaks and valleys of COVID-19. The efforts to get people vaccinated. Upticks in hospitalizations. And another transition of full and hybrid work locations – our teams continued to combine their strengths and talents to solve difficult problems and routine challenges.

And we couldn’t be more thankful. We’re thankful that we have a great team. That we’ve remained cohesive and productive. That we’ve learned and adopted the necessary skills for how to work in this new environment. And that innovation never stopped.

Here are just a few of the things we’re thankful for this year.

Embracing new approaches

We are thankful for a talented group of individuals who are dedicated to the Mission of serving people with the greatest care and love. As a result, they continually work to advance their knowledge and experience to solve complex problems in health care.

Over the past years, this has included gaining the agility skills set, finding creative ways to brainstorm and honing listening skills. Recently the team collaborated with the OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute to build a plan of the future. This was done by listening to stakeholders and patients and then applying what they heard to mindfully set in motion the path to achieve the future experience our patients and care teams desire.

Adapting to change

We are thankful for our Mission Partners’ ability to pivot in order to serve individuals and communities through these challenging times. To meet the dynamics of the environment COVID-19 created, our Mission Partners created Community Connect (OCC), a platform developed to reduce exposures and support and monitor those recovering from COVID-19 at home.

With the number of cases coming down, we’ve transitioned the tool to improve access to health care, education and chronic disease prevention in under-resourced neighborhoods around OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Evergreen Park. It will also be used as part of the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative to create solutions that improve access and quality of care for those insured by Medicaid throughout the state.

These are just a couple of the projects our Mission Partners are working on. We have dozen of teams collaborating on many more concepts that will positively impact the patients we serve. We celebrate the many accomplishments they have achieved over the past year.

Thankful for our team

If we think about the transformation of health care and what is required for that, it's agility, flexibility and creativity. There is also a strong focus on listening to the problems we're trying to solve and then recognizing the need to build new skill to realize new solutions.

We are thankful our Mission Partners embraced and developed these abilities and more to serve our patients and communities in these challenging times. Whether we are working in a hybrid fashion or completely working from home, our Mission Partners have quickly learned how to work in a virtual environment and are finding unique ways to connect. We are excited for the day when we can convene again in person to communicate and make decisions faster.

In the meantime, we are thankful to be a passionate and dedicated team. We still have the same Mission. And we still have the same vision for a future of health care where we making a difference for the people we serve in new and exciting ways.

Have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

FEATURED AUTHOR

Becky Buchen & John Vozenilek, MD, FACEP

Becky Buchen is the Senior Vice President of Innovation for OSF HealthCare. In this role, she is responsible for the Office of Innovation Management as well as developing the operational infrastructure needed to support innovation and assuring innovation results are measured and achieved.

John Vozenilek, MD, FACEP is the Vice President, Chief Medical Officer for Innovation and Digital Health at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center, a collaboration between OSF HealthCare and the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria.