Human Resources
Second opinions
How Peter Bastone relies on employee input to help him take Mission Hospital to the next level
By Matt McClellan
Smart Business Orange County | October 2008
Page 1 of 4
Seven years ago, Peter F. Bastone and his management team at
Mission Hospital were putting the finishing touches on plans for
a $150 million, state-of-the-art critical care tower.
“We thought we had really touched all the bases,” Bastone, the
hospital’s president and CEO, says. However, at the board
retreat at which Bastone and his crew presented their final recommendations, several physicians expressed their reservations
with the plan.
Their concern was that with the steady growth of the community that Mission Hospital served, expanding the hospital’s
overtaxed emergency room should be its No. 1 priority. After
all, what good is a brand-new critical care tower if patients are
being diverted to other hospitals because Mission’s emergency
room doesn’t have room for them?
The physicians had been involved in the planning process,
but they were so focused on their own specialties that they didn’t see the big picture. The discussion at the board retreat
saved the organization from making a huge mistake.
“This thing almost had a bow on it,” Bastone says. “We were
ready to send it up to the health system for their approval. We had
to go back to our architects and our master plan and our budgeting process after that board retreat. We had to pull it apart, and we
had to delay our tower until we expanded our ER.”
Soon after the board retreat, Bastone had to chair a ball during
which he fielded several questions about the organization’s
planned expansion.
“I was embarrassed,” he says. “I’ve already spent millions of dollars on this project, but it won’t make any difference if people can’t
get into the hospital.”
Bastone’s discomfort was only temporary, because although it
cost a significant amount of money, disaster was averted, and the
right decision was made.
Now, Bastone emphasizes communication among every area of the
2,000-employee hospital, which posted net revenue of $334.5 million in 2007. Effective communication between departments can
make or break any organization. Here’s how to make sure it does-n’t break yours.
