Once in a Lifetime . . . Twice in One Year?

It was an exciting week-end earlier this year when Indiana University recognized me as a distinguished alumni... one of only 250 from the 85,000+ graduates. But then something else happened. The Windber Area Hall of Fame Committee selected me for inclusion into, you guessed it, the Windber Hall of Fame. This would have been an honor if I had been a Windber Athlete, a Windber resident, a Windber product, but I was born in Connellsville and raised in a little village called East Liberty, a.k.a., Dickerson Run, Pennsylvania. (As far as I know, the 200 people who live there don't have a hall of fame, but I was once told that I was the best paperboy they had ever had!)

So, to be inducted into the Windber Hall of Fame without any of the above listed attributes was especially gratifying. To paraphrase the words of Dr. Rudolfo Furigay, "I look like I'm from someplace else, but my home is Windber."

Well, because you weren't all able to attend, I decided to include my two minute speech, but let me just say that I was moved by this honor. So, thanks, Windber, for the memories.

Thank you Mike, the committee and all of the citizens of Windber. As my Quaker Presbyterian mom used to tell me whenever I got too much press, “Fools names and fools faces, always appear in public places." (I think that was an old Quaker saying that was meant to keep us Italian Quakers humble!) Love ya, mom, but we’re here tonight anyway.

It is with deep humility that we accept this recognition here this evening. I believe that the true recipients of this acknowledgement, however, should be my board of directors, our employees and the Windber Medical Center Medical Staff. Unlike any other board and medical staff with whom I have worked these past 18 years, these men and women in both the Medical Center and the Research Institute have allowed me to fly. And I’m sure on many days they were holding their breath and saying, "I hope the heck this guy knows what he’s doing." Because, I’ll tell ya, I've scared myself more than once during this journey.

They should be acknowledged and recognized for their work for not eight years, but for the past 99 years. Because, without their tenacity, dedication and passion, there would have been NO WINDBER MEDICAL CENTER for us to build upon. People like Drs. Wheeling, Blair, Orris, Barefoot, Furigay, Csikos, Gary, Park, Bencie, Swansinger... board members like Dave Klementik, Ted Hollern, Ron Corl, Jeanne McKelvey, and oh so many dedicated, hard working staff members have made our Healing Hillside come to life.

When Dr. Dean Ornish used to argue with me about my ability to bring his program to WMC, he would yell, "What do you want from me, Jacobs?" And my consistent response was, "I want you to help me take the question mark away from the word Windber on the international stage." Well, together we have done that. It has been at no small price to any of us.

But when this chapter is finished and this book is closed, NO ONE will be able to say that collectively we haven't made a difference. We’ve added nearly 300 jobs and a payroll for Windber that is approaching $12M. So, everyday I thank God, my family, the employees, this board and medical staff for their help and support and for allowing me to FLY.

Comments

[Toby]

Congrats! on your honors. And welcome to the blogosphere. I've been enjoying your blog and your writing. Seems Windber is one of the first medical centers to jump into the blog world and your blog is a great example for others in healthcare.