Fairmount and its employees have experienced record growth this year with the successful launching of 54 new beds of various service types. In addition, this spring we developed a new Mission Statement, a new Vision Statement, and put our Values into writing. We paid special attention to our sixth value, Service Excellence, renewing our commitment through an expanded council and numerous activities. As expected, these efforts have resulted in great outcomes for Fairmount, such as,

• improved patient satisfaction results
• complete and accurate patient documentation
• successful surveys (Joint Commission) and stakeholder reviews
• top-tier rankings with several MCOs for having low re-admission rates and high follow-up appointment rates
• appropriate lengths of stay
• improved patient and family experiences
• quick and widespread responses to patient concerns or complaints

Good outcomes originate from good staff, and Fairmount has an abundance of these. Moreover, the employee experience is itself an outcome. Our employees demonstrate Service Excellence and their commitment to the patients and our customers every day, in both big and small ways. Our employees epitomize that famous job description item labeled, "other duties as required." For example, one of our housekeepers assisted the clinical staff with a distressed patient's hygiene and basic care last month. In addition, we have a lab technician who surprised the dietary staff by starting the cafeteria clean-up while the team finished a meeting. We have stories about our physicians, doing things as simple as escorting visitors or new patients to their destinations on the campus, to finding their way to the hospital amidst hurricanes and snow storms—or even sleeping over to ensure coverage in the morning. We have stories of employees who pitch in by going "above and beyond," such as the Nurse Manager who put her social work hat on for the day to ensure that the patient on her unit had their case management needs met; and, the receptionist who personally transported the out-of-town family visitor to a local hotel. Or consider the recent story of the two counselors who took a call from a distraught former patient and who worked together to alert the police—200 miles away—to the persons whereabouts, thus preventing her suicide.

These stories are not make-believe. They represent the real actions of real people; people who have dedicated their careers to helping some of the most vulnerable persons in our community (for more on this topic, follow this link). This is not to say that we are perfect—no person or organization is—but when we make mistakes we correct them, we learn from these errors, and we strive to do better. I could not ask for more.

Stories like these bind us together through the pride we feel in their recounting. These stories demonstrate our commitment to our patients and to each other, and such dedication is not just anecdotal. It is revealed in other tangible ways, such as in our patient satisfaction scores, in our employee engagement scores, and in our patient outcomes.

In the end, the performance of our employees can have a transformational effect on the people that we serve. Thus, we are always interested in hearing about our performance. I personally place a high premium on feedback from our patients, their families, and our partners. Please feel free to contact me at charles.mclister@uhsinc.com.

Sincerely,

Charles S. Mclister
Chief Executive Officer
Fairmount Behavioral Health System