Remaining Financially Strong

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to tell you about a new comprehensive initiative that we are embarking upon across Johns Hopkins Medicine. Our aim is to reduce costs and improve efficiencies to advance and sustain our mission.

Johns Hopkins Medicine is an extraordinary institution. Each of us — the faculty, clinicians, researchers, technicians, managers, administrators and staff who work every day to make Hopkins special — is connected to those who came before us and to those who will arrive here after us. We are all joined together by a commitment to excellence that has positioned us to deliver the promise of medicine for generations to come.

Yet the health care landscape is changing. Like many hospitals and academic medical centers across the country, we are facing an environment that makes it more challenging to invest in our mission, meet the health care needs of our communities, and ensure we are positioned for future growth.

While Johns Hopkins Medicine remains healthy overall, we realize that we must act now to ensure that we are able to stay at the forefront of education, research and the delivery of health care. To do this, we must maintain our focus on quality, enhance our efficiency and reduce our costs.

We have begun looking closely at how we can do this across the enterprise, including the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and other entities within JHM. Some of our hospitals have already gone through this process. JHH and Johns Hopkins Bayview are now engaged with the consulting firm Deloitte to develop a multiyear plan. The school of medicine’s leaders have begun meeting with department leadership and have convened multiple workgroups to find areas of opportunity to reduce spending.

In undertaking this initiative, we will continue to keep patient safety and service front and center. We must be comprehensive in our analysis of opportunities to reduce expenses, but we will ensure that any cost reductions are fully aligned with our core values and the priorities identified in the JHM strategic plan.

We recognize that this effort will challenge all of us. At the same time, we want to emphasize that this will be a thoughtful plan to ensure our long-term success as an internationally recognized research, educational and health care institution. We will ensure that JHM continues to be extraordinary and innovative. To achieve that, we are pursuing a variety of steps, such as moving ambitiously into new areas of research, as well as expanding clinically in the Washington area, in Maryland and elsewhere. We have clear objectives, which we believe will allow us to continue to grow and prosper as we have for more than 100 years.

You may have questions about how this effort will affect you and your colleagues. Right now, we are early in the process and are committed to keeping you updated through emails like this one, as well as during Town Meetings and manager forums. We have also set up an email account for you to submit questions.

As always, we deeply appreciate your continuing dedication to your patients, research, students and colleagues, and to the Johns Hopkins Medicine mission.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Kevin W. Sowers, M.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N.
President, Johns Hopkins Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine