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Edward
M. Dinan, the president of Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville,
NY, since January, has been tested. Having successfully steered
two prominent Western Maryland hospitals through a turbulent
merger before arriving at Lawrence, he emerged from the experience
with a clear sense of what a leader needs to do to make modern
healthcare organizations function  effectively.
Mr. Dinan presented his insights at a HealthCare Chaplaincy
Grand Rounds on July 21st at Lawrence Hospital, followed by
a lively question-and-answer session. The event offered an
opportunity for the clinical staff to tour Lawrence's new
intensive care unit, emergency rooms, and the recently constructed
chapel, named for Barbara Yeager, staff chaplain at New York-Presbyterian
Hospital's Westchester division.
The Reverend Sarah Fogg,
Lawrence's director of pastoral care, arranged for Mr. Dinan
to recount his experiences, and she welcomed The Chaplaincy's
clinical staff with her own positive reflections on his brief
tenure. In planning for the presentation, they discovered
many links between his experiences with the merger and basic
principles of family systems theory.
Common
Threads in Human and Organizational Structure
A biology major at Hobart College before receiving his MBA
from Cornell and entering the field of hospital administration,
Mr. Dinan recognized
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that organizations were
like families. They have a spiritual part as well as practical
and functional roles. Leaders have to address those spiritual
needs by emphasizing the organization's core values. He also
observed the inherent resistance to change in organizations,
comparing it to the built- in homeostasis of the human body,
which seeks balance. Without effective leadership based on
clearly articulated values, he noted, organizations would
continue to resist efforts to alter their familiar patterns
and procedures.
A leader cannot control
all the variables impacting an organization, he observed,
but his own experience in facing the challenges that change
creates have taught him that core values control behavior,
that plans are not enough, and that trust in leaders is critical
to success. By connecting with the principles of healthy family
systems, including a commitment to their spiritual health,
he concluded, organizational leaders can build that trust,
and become effective agents for change in the dynamic healthcare
field.
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| Far
left: Edward M. Dinan, president of Lawrence Hospital
Near left: The Rev. Dr. Sarah Fogg, staff chaplain at
Lawrence Hospital |
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