MT. AUBURN HOSPITAL WINS INAUGURAL
MITSS HOPE AWARD
An Interview with Dr. Susan Abookire

The First Annual MITSS HOPE Award was presented on November 6th to representatives of the Mt. Auburn Hospital – Dr. Susan Abookire; Jeanette Clough; Nick DiIeso; Margaret Martello; Dr. Deb Shapiro; and Dr. Linda Temte.  “I want to thank MITSS and the members of the Award Committee for their confidence in and recognition of our work.  We are truly honored to be the first recipients of the HOPE Award.  We will proudly display our beautiful award, but more importantly we will carry on the work for which we were recognized,” said Jeanette Clough, Mt. Auburn President & CEO.

The winner of the HOPE Award was chosen by an independent Selection Committee.  The decision was made based on how the nominee demonstrated leadership, promoting awareness, education, advocacy, support, and action in their healthcare community, and how this all directly related to the MITSS mission of Supporting Healing and Restoring Hope to patients, families, and clinicians impacted by adverse medical events.  Beth Conlin, Community Outreach Committee member and also a member of the Selection Committee, noted “We felt that Mt. Auburn’s submission best exemplified the goals and mission of MITSS.”
Specifically, Mt. Auburn was chosen for the implementation of a Disclosure Response Team, a commitment to honesty and transparency at every turn, an ongoing dedication to process improvement, and a high regard for the emotional well being of the patient as well as the clinician.

Many people wanted to know more about Mt. Auburn’s submission, so we spoke with Dr. Susan Abookire, Chair of the Department of Quality and Patient Safety at Mt. Auburn, and asked her some of the questions that were on people’s minds.

MITSS:  Your personal reflections on winning the award?  How did the team feel?

DR. ABOOKIRE:  We were proud to win the award, but more than that we were grateful to be part of a community that values this work. Patients and caregivers are the real winners.

MITSS:  Were you surprised?  Why?

DR. ABOOKIRE:  Our work has been qualitative and has been about learning, at each and every opportunity, how to best support caregivers and patients. We were delighted to have the work recognized.

MITSS:  What is the most important thing(s) that you learned over the past six years?

DR. ABOOKIRE:  We’ve learned how much there is to learn! Particularly about the depth of support needed and warranted for patients and for providers. This isn’t simple. Helping people through these crises takes time and ongoing commitment to being there for them as long as they need support.

MITSS:  Where do you see the program going in the near/distant future?

DR. ABOOKIRE:  One challenge ahead is to help create ‘space’ for physicians to actually take a clinical break after an adverse event. This has to be balanced by their patients’ need for them, and for colleagues who would have to cover call, etc. But the space must be created.

MITSS:  Do you have any plans for the $5,000 cash prize? 

DR. ABOOKIRE:  We are earmarking this for some Patient Safety Ground Rounds, to invite family members to talk to our medical staff about their experience.

Our warmest congratulations to Mt. Auburn.   Keep up the great work!

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For MITSS information, or for more information pertaining to the MITSS HOPE Awards, please contact:

Winifred N. Tobin
Communications Director
T. 617-232-0090
F. 617-232-7181
Email:wtobin@MITSS.org