Hard times can bring out the worst in people, but I think more often it brings out the best. When we truly look at our own fears and struggles, we can’t help but see the struggles of those around us. Over and over, I hear from clients and friends that they hope this economic crisis will bring us closer together as families, communities and as a nation.
Beth Israel Hospital in Boston is taking this idea to a new level: Rather than laying off staff to protect the hospital’s bottom line, the CEO, Paul Levy, proposes to trim the salaries and benefits of the higher-paid staff to protect the jobs of the “lower” ranks. He sees that the janitors play as important a role in the function of the hospital and in the well-being of the patients and their families as the surgeons do. He sees that the people most at-risk in this economy are already struggling to get by – they are the immigrants and the under-educated who have served us well in a service-based economy. Now he sees that it is his turn to serve them.
So he has solicited suggestions from his higher-paid staff about ways that they could give a little to help out the rest of the staff. And the offers are coming in in a landslide. After announcing his idea to the staff, Levy says he’s getting a hundred emails an hour from people willing to give a little to help other members of the staff community.
You can read the full article at Boston.com