Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the CommonSpirit Health Physician Enterprise Provider Engagement and Experience Council we are writing to ask if you would be willing to share your personal experience of the Covid-19 Pandemic, in particular, but also stories and experiences which have impacted you in your calling as a provider.

This group is made up of physicians and advanced practice providers from across CommonSpirit Health. We focus in four areas including High Performing Medical Groups, Mission, Onboarding and Mentoring, and Leadership Development. Our purpose to improve the overall experience that providers encounter within our medical groups at CommonSpirit Health.

Since March we have spent a great deal of time thinking through what we could do as the Provider Engagement and Experience Council to support Physicians and APPs during this extraordinary and unprecedented time for all of us. We know that the COVID 19 Pandemic has affected each of you differently, spanning the distance of your practice, your personal and family life, your extended family, friends and colleagues. We know there are concerns about health, work, stress, fatigue, financial stability and security. We have worked to gather up reflective tools, for your personal and group use including a focus on person to person check-ins and an end of the day check list.

We need to do more. We are pleased to announce the launch of a curated writing project called “Connections – a Journaling Project” for providers. We believe that each of you has a great deal to share about your personal and professional experiences during this extraordinary time. Our hope is to compile your stories in a historical “COVID-19” compendium of experiences. We are seeking to give voice to the everyday experience of providers. If we are successful in 10 or 20 years from now we will be able to look back and remember peoples’ lived experience.

What we envision is a collection of short essays, stories about things you have experienced, shared in a special section here on the CommonSpirit Population Health website. There is room for photographs, art work and possibly other media as well. Our hope is that they will be read widely. We believe that the process of recording and sharing your thoughts will in some way be both therapeutic and will create a voice to our personal and shared experiences.

If you are willing to participate please think about gathering your thoughts and ideas up and sharing them here.

In the meantime if you have comments, questions, or recommendations, we would be happy to hear from you.

Sincerely,

CommonSpirit Health Physician Enterprise Provider Engagement and Experience Council Executive Committee