Recently Gallup, a large surveying company, took a poll of "How would you rate the ethical standards of the following professions?  The sample size was 1,015 adults that were randomly sampled....usually even a sample size of 30 is enough to make decent outcomes. 
The results of this poll on ethics in professions were quite stunning to me....

There are three main items that are either surprising or interesting to me:

1. I find it very interesting, not so surprising, that nurses (and probably healthcare providers in general) are seen as 85% very ethical, a whopping 23% higher than the next closest, being dentists
2. I was very surprised and saddened by the fact that the general public feel that 52% of clergy are very ethical.  Essentially they view half of all clergy as ethical....not good!  My personal experience is not that way at all, but it makes me sad that others feel that way.
3. Very interesting that members of congress and car salespeople are rated nearly identical at 10% and 8% ethical respectively.  I see a major problem with this rating as well as these are individuals that we, as a people of the nation, vote in.

Just thought I would share those thoughts with you.  Being in the healthcare industry it makes me realize that we, as healthcare providers and supporters, have a large mantle to carry and to ensure that our patients are cared for in a very moral, medically sound, ethical manner.  We are of course dealing with people's lives!

3-0 for my K-A-R-A

Well, my wife Kara has turned 3-0 years old.  On June 5th of 1982 she was born to Gaylon and Margaret Hopkins.  To many this may seem old, but to others (most others) she is still a youngster.  I have known Kara since she was 19 years old, and yet 11 years later I still think she is as beautiful, young-looking, and amazing as the day I first met her.

I am so glad that I have had the chance to grow with her over the last 9+ years as her husband.  She is an true example to me in so many ways.  Here is my cheap, corny, way of showing what it is that I love so much about Kara:

T - Trustworthy - I can ALWAYS count on Kara.  If she commits to something she completes it thoroughly

H - Happy - Kara finds so many ways to gain simple happiness.  Her boys, being outside, food, etc!

I - Industrious - Kara is amazing at decorating our home AND much of it comes from her own creations.

R - Respected - So many people look to Kara for advice, input, her opinion, and respect her for who she is.

T - Tasteful - She's always dressed with style, appreciates quality design, and married a very handsome guy!

Y - Young - Even though 30 may seem middle age or getting older, Kara defies all odds and is still young!

Kara, I love you so much!  Feliz Cumpleanos!

Our Life - The Blessing of Infertility

My beautiful wife, Kara, showed me a blog post today that sincerely expresses my thoughts in a much more eloquent manner than I could ever convey. Kara and I have been through this process and experienced the beauty of having our own child and then not being able to repeat that process. We feel that BOTH our children (Will - biological and Eli - adopted) are miracles that we won't ever take for granted. We love them.



I have posted the blog post below:

"A View of Birth from an Infertile Womb by Mariah Wickham"

I gave birth 7 1/2 years ago. It was an ordinary labor and delivery, free of complications. Because it was my first, the 10 hours it took from start to finish felt average and acceptable. My boy came screaming into this world weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz at 10:14 am. My husband and I beamed from ear to ear, but no different than other first time parents I’m sure. It was a Wednesday and the last day of March. The weather was typical of early spring in these parts: overcast with a few beams of sunshine.

As he grew we desired to add to our family and see him become a big brother. In fact, we wanted lots of children. We would discover along our journey many painful reports of infertility. We went through in-vitro fertilization 4 times. The third time we became pregnant but then had an early miscarriage. We also prepared for a year for an adoption trip to Russia that ended in failure. Our hearts broke over and over as we struggled to understand why nothing seemed to work out for us. And yet, we had a son who was growing before our eyes. At one time we were able to create life which gave us so much hope for the future, but now life felt replete with heartbreak and discouragement.

In correlation with this discouragement and the setbacks of our efforts, the day of my son’s birth has morphed into the miracle it was always meant to be. Viewing it as a long ways from typical at this point, I see his birth much differently. I embrace him and offer thanks each day for I am more acquainted now with the odds of us conceiving. I also realize that we could go bankrupt trying and still be where we started so I should be content with what we’ve been given. But most of all, I feel grateful because what once felt average now feels awe-inspiring. What once was ordinary is now anything but — we were given a gift that day. A gift so special it would never be repeated or imitated. A miraculous gift that I plan on celebrating for the rest of my life.

From Mariah Wickham.

It's Been Awhile.....

There is a song that talks about how long it has been "since I last saw you". In this case it has been awhile since I last wrote on this blog. The last time I wrote I lived in Cleveland, OH and worked for Cleveland Clinic, the NBA still "existed", Penn State had an 80-some-odd year-old coach, and life wasn't quite so crazy.

Well, here I am now providing a brief update of my life now. I have been thinking a lot about the blog and actually have some notes of things I want to write about....will do so later (famous words). For now, I just wanted to let you know what I was up to. I left Cleveland Clinic (CCF) in November of 2010 to return to Intermountain Healthcare in Utah (my home state). I loved CCF and miss the people, the organization, the projects, the neighborhood, the church ward, and all that was there, BUT I also love where I am now.

When I returned I was hired by Intermountain Medical Group (IMG) as Regional Assistant Operations Director for the Urban South Region and Central Rural Region. There are over 1,200 providers that belong to IMG and in our two regions we supported about 150 of them...possibly more. We supported all the physicians/providers employed by Intermountain in Utah County, Park City/Heber, Sanpete County, Richfield and Fillmore. I worked with wonderful people (colleagues, managers, providers, and staff). I was with the Medical Group for about 9 months and THEN transitioned to a new position.

The position I now hold is the Assistant Administrator/Operations Officer for American Fork Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility. This position was previously held by a wonderful friend and close colleague, Kevin Brooks. He took a new position in Montana as VP of Operations for Benefis Healthcare. The transition was not at all expected and I was very happy in the Medical Group, BUT in the long-run I knew I wanted to be in the hospitals as a leader. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity I have to be at American Fork Hospital. I support multiple areas, including; Surgical Services, Laboratory/Pathology, Imaging Services, Dietary, Environmental Services, Engineering, Plant Operations, Clinical Engineering (regionally), Sleep Services (regionally), Respiratory Care, PT/OT, Central Processing, Materials Management, and Physician Recruitment and Strategy (regionally). I am happy to be able to continuously grow in this position and I'm excited for the future of this hospital and the Urban South Region. Currently at American Fork Hospital we are planning for a $44-million expansion of our Operating Rooms, Emergency Department, Central Processing, and most likely some Education space. I am in charge of this expansion and look forward to seeing the final results in Q1 of 2014.

Well, that is all the time I have for now. I hope to post again soon!

True Athletes AND Examples

Wow, okay so it has been months (nearly 4) since I last posted to the blog. I have a lot to write about but will write a quick post on what is currently on my mind. Just tonight I was sitting comfortably on the couch perusing my favorite website....ESPN.com... and read a quick article about one of the athletes I grew up watching. The article was about Mr. Karl "the Mailman" Malone, and was called "Getting to know the real Karl Malone".
Now, I have to mention my opinion of sports in general. I am a huge sports fan at almost every level. I enjoy watching the amazing talent of a swimmer's freestyle pull and quick flip-turn, a volleyball player's kill for a sideout right at the corner line, a soccer player's banana curving hit on goal from 30 yards out to the upper corner of the net, or a golfer's approach shot from 250 yards out that hits the green and spins back 10 yards to end up inches from the whole. We have some amazingly talented people on this earth and to be able to display their talents under such high pressure in front of thousands and millions of people is stunning. HOWEVER, some athletes, mostly professional athletes, and more recently collegiate and even high school or prep athletes, act as if the whole world owes them something. They act as thugs, whiners, uncaring, child-like criminals. It seems that they care about nothing more than money, attention, and the world alone.
I understand that some of you may not agree with me and that is fine. I understand that some people/athletes were raised in a different way and that deep inside most athletes are probably honest, caring, hard-working individuals, BUT many of them now days are not. I am amazing at the millions of dollars that some of these athletes make and yet still act the way they do. They have chosen a career with public spotlight and should respect that. It is not right when other amazing civic leaders are improving communities, individuals, and companies with sustainable change and make 1/1,000th of what some of these athletes make. I think of educators/teachers, police officers, and other civic employees. These are the people that help us learn the skills to be successful in life AND keep us safe. Some are paid so poorly that they qualify for Medicaid, WIC, and other government welfare, HOW IN THE WORLD is that happening!? I want to be clear that not all teachers and police officers are wonderful people either, but for the most part they are humbly doing their job, and that is important....and I haven't even mentioned hospital administrators yet....HA :)
Okay, enough of the tirade on athletes and generalizations that I have made. I just thought I would give a quick background as to why I think this article is revealing of the types of professional athletes that are acting as role models??
Karl Malone is definitely not the "greatest" example of the qualities mentioned above (he has his past and probably still isn't perfect), BUT at least in some major ways he represents some positive attributes and seems to do A LOT of good with his talents and the money he has made in his life. He continues to be a person that is happy with what makes him tick.....outdoors, tractors, service, fishing, and probably Louisiana! He was loyal as an athlete, spending nearly his whole career in Utah (until he left for those darn Lakers).
I guess the whimsical purpose of this post is to urge us all to keep our heroes and mentors as people that represent the true meaning of hard work, values, and civic service. Some may be athletes, but most are the people we meet or interact with daily. I hope that I can teach my children to do find true heroes AND I hope that I can provide a good example of such an individual as I grow in my career and life.
Thanks for reading my ramble!

Illness as Economic Metaphor

Recently I had the opportunity of attending an event at Cleveland Clinic called "Ideas for Tomorrow". This is an event that the Clinic holds on a monthly basis (for the most part). We invite leaders from around the world come speak to us on life, society, healthcare, business, innovation, success, and many other topics. Some of these speakers have included Tom Kelley (Founder of IDEO), Michael Porter (Harvard Professor, Strategist), political leaders, athletes, and so forth. Next week we will even have Former Walmart President and CEO, Lee Scott Jr. I try to attend these events and am usually fortunate enough to be considered a "VIP" (just because I know someone that organizes the events) so I get to sit at the front during the presentation, stay after to meet the individual, AND even get to eat some nice cheese and crackers (whoopee!)....I think it is mostly because they feel bad for such a young early professional so they give me the chance to rub shoulders with hot shots.

Anyway, a few months ago we had philanthropist, researcher, and businessman, Michael Milken speak to us. He is the guy that invented the junk bond, has raised a lot of money for disease prevention, and has done some other stuff in his life (good and bad)....see his bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken

Mr. Milken gave a stirring speech on the health of our nation in physical and economical terms and described some of his passions. At the end of the presentation he shared an article that he wrote for The Wall Street Journal in June of 2009 called "Illness as Economic Metaphor". He uses some great symbolism to describe the similarities between the current health/illness issues in our nation and the current economic issues in our nation.

I particularly appreciate the comparisons about:

• The importance of allowing the patients body to recover from the sickness....allow the market to recover from the downturn.
• Grave illnesses are usually more serious and life-threatening when they follow years of bad habits...consumers and businesses are usually in worse trouble when they have taken on years of poor business decisions just to make a quick dollar or two. Far too much overindulging in both cases!
• Even the Hippocratic Oath that starts with, "First, do no harm" supports the notion to do no harm to the economy but to keep it healthy by maintaining prudent business decisions.

You should be able to find the article online by Googling the name of the article and the date. Anyway, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts!!!

Now That is What I am Talking About!!

Recently Cleveland Clinic took an amazing step forward in helping the "community" live a more healthy life. The offering can be found at: http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2009/12/cleveland_clinic_ymca_curves_t.html

I would love to hear your feedback on:

• Will this really change behavior?


• Should other organizations provide the same benefit?


• How are we going to track and measure success?


• Should this be a part of the healthcare reform bill?


• What other opportunities are there to provide community health change?


• Any other thoughts?