Director's Message

Nov. 2, 2007

To: All DHS employees

From: Bruce Goldberg, M.D., director

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"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
~Helen Keller

One of the things I enjoy most about writing this weekly message is the open dialog each topic generates. The feedback I receive from so many of you is always valuable, and very much appreciated.

Last week's message drew a lot of enthusiastic responses and ideas. It's very satisfying to see so much interest in improving our service delivery and streamlining our processes. It is that enthusiasm that convinces me we have it within ourselves to transform DHS into a world-class health and human services organization.

I also received a few questions and comments, which I thought I would share with you, along with my responses.

The first question was whether the interviews and information gathering process that will begin this month will include customers and partners as well as employees. The answer is yes, most definitely. Related to that was the question of whether the McKinsey staff will be going into the field to meet with employees. Again, yes.

Our employees' ability to generate good ideas extends to all of our offices, and our ability to serve Oregonians relies on many others in addition to our staff. We depend on a range of partners and providers, advocacy and nonprofit organizations, local governments, and others to deliver services throughout our state. These partners will play an essential role helping us create a world-class health and human services delivery model for Oregon. We will be reaching out to employees, partners and customers throughout the state to gather their ideas, comments and concerns.

The third comment/question raised was why do another study? In re-reading last week's message, it now occurs to me that I was not as clear as I could have been, because this is not study. This is the first phase of developing a plan to improve ourselves and our work, which we then will implement.

By the end of May we will have concrete plan for change. At that point we will transition into the implementation phase. We expect it will take 12-18 months to implement the plan.

Of course, improvement is a continuous journey. This is just the start of an exciting long-term process that is going to significantly improve our ability to effectively and efficiently serve Oregonians.

I encourage you to keep sending me your ideas, and to share them with the McKinsey-DHS team. Your input will be crucial in helping us determine our potential for improvement and in creating a blueprint for transformation.

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To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us

This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.