Michigan Medicine’s vision: Our discoveries change care. Our care changes lives.

Approximately a 4-minute read

Key takeaways:

• Michigan Medicine’s vision, “Our discoveries change care. Our care changes lives,” is being reinforced through the organization’s shared strategic priorities.
• Through actions and forward thinking Michigan Medicine will continue to be a destination for health care, innovation, education, discovery, excellence and serving diverse populations through integrated, equitable and accessible care.
• Six concepts related to new strategic priorities and objectives will guide Michigan Medicine’s vision.

At Michigan Medicine, team members are committed to carrying out the organization’s mission of advancing health to serve Michigan and the world.

That mission is our collective purpose – why we come to work every day, whether we spend our time in patient care, education, research or shared services.

But as an organization, we also need to chart our path forward. In the summer of 2019, Michigan Medicine CEO Marschall Runge, M.D., Ph.D., established an executive steering committee to guide the vision process.

More than 120 faculty, staff and learners participated in focus groups about our future. Themes were captured from the groups and the entire community was invited to vote on the themes that resonated with them. From that feedback, draft vision statements were developed and voted on by the community. 

Those future aspirations are summed up by the Michigan Medicine vision: Our discoveries change care. Our care changes lives.

Those are only six simple words, but they represent a lot of what we hope to achieve in the future. The expanded version of the vision, seen to the right, represents our commitment to people and all three aspects of our tri-partite mission.

How we get there

So how do we make sure we are making groundbreaking discoveries? And that we’re translating those discoveries to patient care that will change the lives of our patients and families? How do we fulfill our commitment to educate the next generation of physicians and scientists?

We can do so through shared strategic priorities. Michigan Medicine has undertaken a year-long process to establish new strategic priorities and objectives. Leaders will be charged with working with their teams on these six concepts to build out initiatives and action plans. Actions will have metrics, timelines and accountable leaders to contribute to fulfilling our vision.

The organization’s executive team members recently shared more information about each of the strategic priorities:

Promote a positive and cohesive people culture that is aligned with our values

“It is imperative that we diversify our workforce and foster a more inclusive community,” said Runge, who also serves as executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the U-M Medical School. “On top of that, we are committed to providing opportunities for advancement and strengthening transparency and accountability at all levels of the organization.”

Chief Human Resources Officer Deloris Hunt added to Runge’s thoughts: “The impact of all of our leaders committed to demonstrating our values intentionally in every interaction with each other and their staff, will be tremendous.”

Improve the value of health care we deliver by building our BASE

In Fall 2021, U-M Health President David Miller, M.D., unveiled his BASE framework, focusing on Belonging and inclusion, Access, Safety and quality, and Experience.

“If we channel our shared drive for excellence and compassion for our patients toward these fundamental priorities, we will build our BASE, provide extraordinary care for our patients and communities, and fulfill our mission to advance health to serve Michigan and the world,” Miller said.

Create transformative knowledge that advances science and improves health

This priority will focus on making Michigan Medicine a destination for world-class research faculty, staff and learners.

“Once our team members get to campus, we will nurture cross-unit collaborations, enable innovation and enhance infrastructure and services to ensure that every scientist gets the support they need to create groundbreaking discoveries,” said Steven Kunkel, Ph.D., executive vice dean for research and chief research officer.

Educate physicians and scholars who will advance health, science and care delivery

The U-M Medical School is already a global destination for learners, with a track record of training future leaders who have profound impact on health care.

“We are creating a renewed focus on promoting student well-being, increasing diversity in our learner, faculty and clinical education settings, and using data to improve the quality and outcomes of educational programs,” said Debra Weinstein, M.D., executive vice dean for academic affairs and chief academic officer. “We will identify ways to innovate and utilize evidence-based approaches to education in order to fulfill this commitment.”

Be efficient and effective stewards of all our resources

This means the organization will recommit to prudently investing in its people and resources, and improve its environmental sustainability. Much of the environmental work will be led by Tony Denton, who was recently named the senior vice president and chief environmental, social and governance officer for U-M Health.

“Our responsibility is to pursue a balance between minimizing our impact on the environment while staying true to our mission of providing excellent patient care, education and research,” Denton said.

Additionally, team members will continue evaluating and pursuing opportunities for Michigan Medicine to diversify and enhance its revenue sources.

Grow strategically, both independently and with partners, to create alignment and coordination across the care continuum

Over the last decade, Michigan Medicine has increased its partnerships and strategic affiliations across Michigan. According to Runge, we will continue to work toward the goal of influencing 3.5 million lives throughout the state. 

“On top of that, our teams will seek growth in strategic service lines and work to enhance our ambulatory care footprint,” Runge said. “Finally, work will be done to reduce health equity gaps and improve care based on community health assessments and social determinants of health.

“If we, as leaders, work with our teams to meet these priorities in our daily work, our organization’s vision will be achieved.”

Learn more about the vision – and the role you can play in reaching it – by watching the video at the top of the page.