O
ur annual OR Excellence Awards issue is both a labor of love
and an impossible assignment. On the one hand, we get to high-
light the outstanding efforts of surgical facility leaders and their
teams. Telling their lesson-filled stories drives home the point that
there is no more talented or dedicated group of healthcare profession-
als than the readers that we are proud and honored to serve. As you'll
see in our ORX Awards package beginning on p. 26, this year's win-
ners offer up exceptional examples of how to run a surgical facility
with smarts, savvy and compassion.
But on the other hand, we only have so much space to tell but a
handful of stories. Inevitably, we fail to honor some very deserving sur-
gical facilities and leaders. Perhaps we missed your story this time
around. Don't think we didn't notice. Only 7 facilities get to take a bow
this year, but the tireless work that you do for your staff, surgeons,
stakeholders and patients is worthy of ovation and adoration.
The famous quote atop this page is from a talk that NFL coach
Vince Lombardi gave to one of his Green Bay Packers teams. "We are
going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not
catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly
chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not
remotely interested in just being good."
Or, if you prefer the words of Norman Vincent Peale, "Shoot for the
moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
Surgery leaders aren't wired to settle for so-so or for "just being
good." In your striving for perfection, you set a shining example.
• • •
'If We Chase Perfection, We Can Catch Excellence'
An NFL coach's famous words ring true for surgical facility leaders.
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EDITOR'S PAGE
Dan O'Connor
