NOTE: This message was emailed on Friday, Dec. 23, to all Ballad Health team members from Alan Levine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Ballad Health.
Dear Colleague:
I always enjoy sending out a message to each of you before the Christmas celebration, as it is an opportunity to remind myself just how large our extended family is. Each member of the Ballad Health family, each day, has an opportunity to give hope, empathy and kindness to someone else. And what a gift that is, particularly being part of such a large extended family.
I just read a story this morning which reminded me about how much anger there is in our society – an anger which has manifested over the past few years in some things that we see, like violence against healthcare heroes, TikTok and YouTube videos of people resorting to physical acts of violence when something doesn’t go their way, fear related to the economy and uncertainty at times in our politics, someone being thoughtless or rude in a daily interaction, or even out-of-control emotions related to excessive drinking or use of drugs. All of these things surround us, and on top of it, social media and even some news outlets are hard-wired to expose us to ongoing anger – deliberately as a matter of business. Worse, sometimes ill-intended and self-serving people use those mediums to export anger for purposes that are not constructive.
I’ve concluded that anger is a natural thing God gave us as a warning sign – no different than the temperature gauge in our car or the bark of our dogs when a stranger approaches our home. It’s not a bad thing if it relates to something important and you acknowledge it. What does become harmful, however, is a general sense of anger just looking for a way to manifest into something bad. That, my friends, is destructive and harmful to our relationships and to our society. And this, in my opinion, is what we see all around us.
Why would my Christmas message focus on anger? Well, actually it’s not. My point is more that, in order to better appreciate the alternative to anger, it’s important to remind ourselves just how exhausting unhealthy anger is. I know how I feel when I develop a general sense of anger and I know how it feels when a genuine sense of kindness and empathy guides me. My strong preference is for the latter.
God gave us kindness and empathy also. And there was a reason we are taught in scripture to love those who seek to harm us and that love does not keep score or look for ways to pay people back. Kindness, love and empathy are way more powerful and way more constructive than anger. Kindness and empathy give hope.
Many people whom we serve, it could be argued, have good reason to be angry. The illness of an innocent child would certainly be an understandable reason to feel anger. Instead, we notice that when we provide kindness, empathy and compassion to them, they, too, become focused on hope, gratitude, kindness and thanks. This year, we unveiled our Hope Rising initiative to expand Niswonger Children’s Hospital to serve our most vulnerable children. We shared the below video to tell the stories of three beautiful children and their families – families who faced fear, hardship and uncertainty – and yet, through kindness, empathy and compassion, our Ballad Health family gave them a gift they will always cherish. And they, too, gave us a gift of their story. It’s hard not to fall in love with these families and with the people who helped them write their stories.
You can watch the video on Balladhealth.org by going to this page and scrolling down to the second video, under “Expanding Niswonger Children’s Hospital.“ Or if you’re on an external device, you can view it on YouTube by following this link.
This, my friends, is what the Christmas season means to me. It means a recognition that God put in all of us a range of emotions, options, choices and the capability of using wisdom to exercise all of these. I can’t ever think of a time when I chose kindness and empathy and regretted it. Even if I may have gotten hurt in the process.
Yesterday, like so many of us do from time to time, I had the opportunity to volunteer for an organization which serves many people in our community. When I walked in the doors, I thought I was going to provide a service to others. Instead, they gave something to me. Some of the people whom we were serving happened to recognize me. One such person pulled me aside to tell me that five weeks earlier he had a triple bypass surgery at our hospital. He and his wife (I presume) told me how proud they were of our hospital and how well they were cared for there. I could not have been prouder as I thought of the doctors (Garcia and Palazzo) who cared for this man, and the nurses and support staff who enabled him to leave the hospital feeling as though he was in great hands during his entire stay. Another person shared with me she had just delivered a premature baby, who had spent significant time in our NICU. The mom told me just how kind and wonderful everyone was toward her and her baby.
Had I not taken the time to show up to offer some kindness to others, I would never have heard those stories. I went there to try to be kind to others and instead, they gave something way better to me.
I think that’s how God wanted it to be.
You will hear me talk a lot about kindness and compassion in the coming year. There has been too much anger and I feel like we all need a little more kindness. I know all of us will be happier and – importantly – so will our patients and their families. This does not mean we won’t experience anger, and many times, it is warranted. But it is how we ultimately respond that will determine whether we can conquer anger. I feel as though if we can default to a culture of kindness then we will truly be doing the servant work God intended for us to do.
Please watch the stories I shared in the video. If nothing else, I hope they bring you pride that the organization you have chosen to be a part of has, itself, chosen hope, kindness and empathy.
God bless each of you and your families during this incredibly wonderful time.
Alan
Alan Levine
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ballad Health
