600 Hours of Coaching and 25 Collaborations: cHOP Celebrates Second Anniversary
A letter from Associate Dean Susan Hingle, MACP, FRCP, FAMWA
cHOP celebrates its second anniversary in January 2021. We have had the opportunity to reflect on the past two years and are pleased to report that we have been successful in creating inclusive partnerships and programs that have helped to advance organizational and individual well-being as well as personal and professional development. We believe that we are helping to make SIU Medicine an organization whose employees thrive, thus making us better able to meet our mission of assisting the people of central Illinois in meeting their healthcare needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community.
We have assembled a phenomenal team that is responsible for the many successes to date. Each of cHOP’s three pillars, Leadership and Excellence, Professional Development, and Wellness, have assembled advisory groups as well as collaborative groups who assist in our work. Collaborations and partnerships are the cornerstone of work, and we have had the privilege of working collaboratively with numerous Departments, Units, and individuals.
The opportunities provided through responsibility for the employee engagement survey were helpful in developing relationships throughout the organization and in identifying both high level and Departmental specific needs. Numerous consultations, facilitations, and work occurred in follow-up of the survey. We will be launching the next survey in the fall of 2021.
Our cHOP grant program, though modest in financial amounts, was a strategic way of empowering individuals in our organization to get involved with our wellness and professional development work. It also served as an organizational needs assessment of sorts. Many of the individuals who applied for grants were people who would not have otherwise been able to implement their projects. We are looking forward to working with the Office of Marketing and Communications to celebrate the work of the grant recipients.
The Covid-19 pandemic was an unexpected proof of concept opportunity for cHOP to assist our staff, learners, faculty and community as we all traveled the challenges of the pandemic. The racial and socioeconomic inequities that were exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic offered an opportunity for cHOP to engage collaboratively with the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in meaningful work that can no longer be ignored.
cHOP is a unique organizational component, and we are currently working on finding opportunities to disseminate our work so others can learn from our experiences. I would like to express gratitude to you for believing in our concept, team and work. We wouldn’t be successful without your support. Please join in celebrating our accomplishments of the first two years of our existence that are documented in this report.
