Immersed in Chicago Life

I've been downtown Chicago the last two nights. Tuesday night was a recruitment dinner with a gastroenterologist. We dined at a great steak place and I'm taking these opportunities to learn how people feel each other out. We have a few options for physician recruitment and the senior execs' chosen discussion points make me think. It was a late night and I didn't walk in the door until after 10 pm.

Wednesday night was a United Way fundraising event for Young Executives' Network downtown. I went with a new friend who has about three master's degrees and hails from South Africa. Inevitably, the people in healthcare gravitate towards each other and after being recruited to take leadership roles in the United Way (yeah, like I have time for that), we met up with a few folks from the downtown hospitals. Our informal fellow network is growing!

After the event, I wandered back to my train station and was heavily annoyed by the "ambient" saxophone player that's always playing "Careless Whisper" at the corner of Randolph and Michigan Ave. He frequently hits the same wrong note and I realized that I'm probably no longer a tourist if I'm picking on the street sax player.

Work's been flying this week. The stroke certification committee is well on its way. I've been in touch with a neurologist from our transfer hospital and he gave me a copy of their clinical protocol, saving us from having to recreate the wheel. The grants I'm writing are NOT started yet; I sent out an urgent message asking the team members for their perceptions of the projects. I need to draw on their verbiage. While that process is still challenging me, I had a neat political experience yesterday…

As leader of the stroke certification efforts, I needed additional information about some of the nitty-gritty parts of the Illinois legislation. I scanned the bill and couldn't find my answers. So I contacted a policy analyst downstate and she told me the rulemaking's not even complete. Huh? Then she solicited questions and clarifications that I thought should be in the bill, for they are still writing up the regulatory language! So I wrote her back with all my suggestions and she passed them along to the assembly.

SO maybe, just maybe, I'll have a hand in writing this bill. Or at least the regulatory language!