What Is Health For Life?
Health for Life is a movement across the hospitals of Vanguard Health Systems to create life-long relationships by changing the way health and healthcare are delivered in our communities.
It means living our values and our mission in everything we do. Every day in the hospitals and communities we serve, you already contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people you encounter through:
- Screenings that testing for risk factors, symptoms and general health
- Education classes that empower people with health and healthcare knowledge
- Bedside care that provides patients with comfort and treatment
Helping people achieve Health for Life is our stand, our mantra and the call to action around which we can all rally. In everything you do, ask yourself, “Is this helping someone achieve health for life?”
How do we integrate Health for Life in our hospitals?
Deploying Health for Life across your hospital means employing our existing Vanguard values in everything we do. Here are some examples:
- Accountability, Integrity and Safety: We are health and healthcare professionals, and we accept responsibility for leading our community to a greater level of understanding and engagement in the health & wellness of our citizenry even as we deliver the safest experiences and best outcomes possible for those with acute care needs.
- Excellence, Respect and Innovation: Our ideas and contributions have meaning and impact beyond the walls of our individual hospital. We have the power to improve the health and healthcare of individuals living not only in our community, but thousands of miles away by virtue of the fact that we are part of Vanguard.
- Innovation and Respect: Others talk about “patient-centric” care. We live it, by making ourselves more acutely aware of what it means to be the patient through our support of and participation in Vanguard-led innovations.
- All Values: When we talk about a balanced scorecard approach to Vanguard-wide operations, we mean it. The financial pillar is important, but no more so than people, service/experience, quality, growth and a focus on community.
Why are we implementing Health for Life?
Daily, we are barraged with new and conflicting information about the state of and need for healthcare reform in America. While the debate continues, we at Vanguard Health Systems are quietly working to create a new standard, one based not only on our ability to deliver exceptional care when patients are sick, but also to deliver on our recently-affirmed mission, “To Help People Achieve Health for Life.”
In pursuit of that commitment, we will focus on earning life-long relationships with our patients and helping them stay healthy throughout every stage of their lives. This is a mission we will pursue in every Vanguard community, even as we recognize and celebrate the unique identities of each of our hospitals in each of our markets.
As a result of this shared focus and the resulting collaboration, we will be able to gather and share best practices and leverage the power we have in numbers as we look for ways to constantly improve patient care and community health.
In the coming weeks and months you will be hearing more about what “Health for Life” means in our daily work lives. You will hear more about the role you play in demonstrating our values in action for safety, excellence, respect, integrity, accountability, and innovation. Our goal is to serve as the model for what a quality-focused, national healthcare delivery system can and should be. Our new direction has numerous implications for how we work—and how we organize our work—which require commitment, leadership, and collaboration from us all.
Thanks for all you do every day,
Charles N. Martin
Chairman and CEO
Vanguard Health Systems