Health Well Done

06/16/2020

Last week in the Mountain Times, Killington VT, they reported on protests around the state. This protestor's sign was one of the strongest messages that resonated with me.

05/20/2020

I am honoured to be interviewed for the 'What Problem Do You Solve?" podcast with Bruce Weinstein about cost-saving innovations in healthcare and project management. Listen here! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cathy-dolan-schweitzer/id1513399439?i=1000474771492

‎Show What Problem Do You Solve?, Ep Cathy Dolan-Schweitzer - May 15, 2020

05/19/2020

The people that work in healthcare either have a job or it's a calling. It's obvious that Lindsay feels that her job is a calling because for her to be so involved in making sure that people have a 'good death' just goes to show you how much heart she and many health workers have. It's so important to keep this in mind when we build these health centers for them.

Please listen to this very moving episode with my friend, Lindsay:

A listener named Lindsay, who works as a nurse in an ICU, is struggling with the way her patients are dying from COVID-19.

05/05/2020

Keeping all staff protected from chronic stress and poor mental health during this response means that they will have a better capacity to fulfil their roles. Be sure to keep in mind that the current situation will not go away overnight and you should focus on longer-term occupational capacity rather than repeated short-term crisis responses.

05/04/2020

Take care of yourself at this time.

Try and use helpful coping strategies such as ensuring sufficient rest and respite during work or between shifts, eat sufficient and healthy food, engage in physical activity, and stay in contact with family and friends.

Avoid using unhelpful coping strategies such as use of to***co, alcohol or other drugs. In the long term, these can worsen your mental and physical well-being.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a unique and unprecedented scenario for many workers, particularly if they have not been involved in similar responses. Even so, using strategies that have worked for you in the past to manage times of stress can benefit you now.

You are the person most likely to know how you can de-stress and you should not be hesitant in keeping yourself psychologically well. This is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

04/27/2020

Prior to my developing the Health Well Done approach, I had been successfully leading teams of design and construction professionals in their efforts to build high-quality PCEs. We measured our “success” by positive feedback elicited from patients, the medical professionals who treated them, and other employees of the healthcare system. We distributed Press Ganey surveys to patients and received consistently high patient- satisfaction scores through Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAPS) surveys. Hence, I remained satisfied with my work for many years, until 2011, when I unexpectedly found myself sitting opposite my doctor, who told me that I would need to undergo six months of cancer treatment. It was during this difficult time as a patient that I fully experienced the tangible results of the decisions made by people like me who built hospital environments.

Throughout my treatment and recovery, I spent a great deal of time thinking about my past work with project teams and ultimately realized that my north star had always been the bottom line. Budgets and schedules drove many decisions, and while many professionals might not think that this is a bad thing, is it the best thing?

04/22/2020

The health of humanity is inextricably tied to the health of the planet, and we must collectively respect the earth’s resources while building facilities that reinforce health and wellness. I believe that this is the best way to take care of ourselves and our teams.

What are you doing to contribute toward the health of the planet?

04/13/2020

Social Distancing tip: Sit by a waterfall or if you don't have one close by listen to waterfall sounds on Pandora or Spotify. It really helps to calm you and keep your grounded at this time.

04/03/2020

You can commit to becoming the best possible project manager, assemble the greatest team, and plan the most well-coordinated project, but no matter how diligently you work to build an outstanding patient-centered healthcare environment (PCE) and regardless of the many successes under your belt, you will face growing demands to provide high-quality results.

Practicing the best project leadership means meeting challenges and leveraging opportunities and, above all, staying on top of an industry in perpetual flux. My book, Health Well Done explores the ways in which your PCE projects might be affected as the nation’s healthcare industry continues to transform.

It provides insights into how you can succeed by continuing to rely on the principles of the Health Well Done approach, and it ends with an important reminder of how our collective state of wellness is inextricably linked to the health and well-being of the planet itself.

http://healthwelldone.com/book/

04/02/2020

Lockdowns and distancing won’t save the world from warming. But amid this crisis, we have a chance to build a better future.

Lockdowns and distancing won’t save the world from warming. But amid this crisis, we have a chance to build a better future.

04/01/2020

Everyone needs a wishbone, a funny bone, and a backbone to succeed in life. You can read more about each one in this blog.

Keep these three things in mind, and you’ll have a good foundation from which to foster a Healthy Team, one of the three key principles of the Health Well Done approach to delivering a successful, patient-centered healthcare facility.

Before project managers can look after their team, they need to focus on their own wellness first. These tips will help put you in the best position to provide the support and motivation your team needs to deliver successful healthcare projects.

03/31/2020

How can you deliver on your commitment to building high- quality PCEs in the face of a seemingly intractable healthcare dilemma? I advise you to stay educated and tap into your network of professionals no matter how busy you are. Do not let the intensity of project management work cause you to isolate yourself from professional events, new people, and emerging trends.