“I love this organization”. That is exactly what I said to my husband last Thursday after hearing several presentations in three different forums as part of the team at Boston Children’s Hospital. It started with the monthly Department Heads meeting that opens with a patient and family story and closes with an inspirational quote.

That meeting was followed by a lunchtime every other week series (dubbed Fireside Chat), open to all employees focusing on how we are supporting our patients and each other. Dick Argys, Chief Culture Officer and Chief Administrative Officer is the host. As part of our Juneteenth series of events, the topic was “The History of Juneteenth”. Our guest speaker, Theodore Landsmark, PhD, JD, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University along with Peter Faiteau, Patient Services Administrator for Oncology/Hematology/HSCT, talked about the history and significance of Juneteenth.

The Juneteenth series was announced in an email from Dr. Kevin Churchwell, President and CEO to all employees last Monday – before it was declared a national holiday. He acknowledged that it was only the second year Boston Children’s was celebrating Juneteenth and closed his email with this: “Boston Children’s celebration about Juneteenth is all about learning from each other. And the more we learn about our history, the better equipped we are to build a brighter and more inclusive future for all”.

That was followed by an open forum for all employees, “Transforming Tomorrow: Investing in Children, Families, and Communities”. Dr. Churchwell and a panel of leaders described the new inpatient building opening in summer 2022 (far enough along for an inspiring video) and the new ambulatory centers being planned in nearby towns making care more accessible to families in the broader Boston area.

And earlier in the week we had all been invited by Dr. Churchwell to a virtual celebration to announce and congratulate the entire Boston Children’s team on being ranked the number one children’s hospital in the nation in the 2021-22 U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings. The celebration started with the sixth annual “#1 at 12:01” party to virtually share the news with the night shift.

In previous weeks I joined a virtual forum during AAPI Heritage Month, and the Annual LGBTQ Pride Celebration hosted by Boston Children’s LGBTQ & Friends Committee and the Rainbow Consortium.

All these events are reflective of the inclusive culture patients and staff experience every day at Boston Children’s and the #1 children’s hospital ranking reflects the best of the best. I will miss this organization when I do the handoff to a new CIO at some point in the next several months, but I will be better having had this interim experience.

What’s the takeaway for you this week? We make choices throughout our careers on where we want to work. Choose wisely. Learn about the culture; not just the job, your team, and who you will report to. Choose to work for an organization you can be proud of, that has a mission, that has values you share, and where you are valued. The work we do matters and the culture we work within matters.