Pursuing Perfection

John Hayward,
President and CEO,
PeaceHealth

It is with great pride that I congratulate St. Joseph Hospital and its community partners who together were successful in securing one of the most prestigious and important grants that I have seen in my 35 year career in health care.
The collaboration and teamwork I personally witnessed during the two national site visits to Bellingham were truly inspirational. It was heartwarming to see so many people from different organizations and disciplines willing to place the interests of patients above all other considerations.

Creating a patient-centered, seamless system of care across the community at all sites of care delivery has long been a vision of PeaceHealth. I have witnessed extraordinary efforts of cooperation across PeaceHealth these last several years as we have embraced strategies to make this possible. Now we are engaged with like-minded people in Whatcom County who aspire to change the way health care is delivered in this country. I sincerely want to thank everyone in PeaceHealth for your efforts each and every day to care for those who turn to us in times of need. I also want to thank all of those associated with the organizations that are partnering with us in this grant. You also make daily contributions for caring for many of these same individuals. I am certain that, together, we will show that the confidence placed in us by the RWJF was well deserved.