On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009--the largest one time domestic spending bill in U.S. History. This package, which includes a massive dose of tax relief, is intended to do two fundamental things: (1) stimulate the economy; and (2) more specifically to create or save 3.5 million jobs during the President's first two years in office. Both sound like good prescriptions for health care leaders, right?
Working Together for Solutions
As the President traveled around the country in an effort to generate a consensus of support from the American people, the Congressional approval of the legislation was seemingly business as usual with support split along party lines. In fact, in the Senate, the votes of three moderate Republicans were needed to ultimately get the bill to the President's desk. So much for bipartisan collaboration.
Faith Based Leadership?
The media and political pundits have not been short on their opinions about the Stimulus bill. It has provided incredible fodder for those who continue to look back and reflect on the policy failures of the prior administration and the respective political parties which will continue to fuel confusion and further deteriorate consumer confidence. President Obama won the hearts and minds of many Americans because during these challenging economic times, people could still have hope. There is a scripture that is commonly quoted by many: "faith is the substance of things hoped for--evidence of things not seen". We obviously did not see this historic & extraordinary economic downturn coming. But right now, many Americans hope and have the faith that the stimulus package is a good thing and that the collective wisdom of our elected officials should provide us the necessary leadership to steer this country in a direction that will put the economy back on track and reposition the United States as the pre-eminent leader economically and as a collaborator and ambassador for peaceful existence.
How do health care leaders use faith and hope to manage through economic hardship? And how do we best balance these with the harsh operational, economic, and yes, even political, realities that face us in health systems?
See prior posts in this blog for additional perspectives on balancing hope and reality during the recession in the Leadership in a Recession Series Category.
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