My wife and I had a home built in the country a few years ago. During the construction process, we frequently traveled to the site to watch the progress.  I still recall how much time and effort our builder took with the home foundation.  After digging the hole, he used many tons of gravel to provide a solid and drainable base in the hole.  He poured footers (the concrete base upon which the walls sit.  Then the foundation was poured with extensive supporting re-enforcement bars suspended in it.  He built a pipe drainage system around the foundation.  Finally, he coated the foundation with water-proofing material.  It was obvious that the foundation of the home was perhaps the most important component simply because everything else relied upon it for support, balance, and structure.

First things, first. You have heard that said many times.  When building a house, the foundation comes first and must be able to withstand tremendous stress.  What comes first for you?  Have you established the values by which you live your life?  Have you determined what, no matter what, gets first priority in your life.

In a company, such as our health-care company, it is clear that the foundation should be our patients. We exist solely to serve our patients’ needs.  From our inception, when we began by relieving the pain our patients were suffering, to today with our dozens of products, our existence has been based upon meeting the needs of our health-care patients.  Often, in our day-by-day work, there is a tendency to forget our foundation of patient-first.  We work to accomplish our very specific and often parochial job to hit an objective, drive down costs, meet financial goals, etc.  However, we must never forget our patients without whom we have no company at all.  Our patients depend upon us doing our jobs extremely well.  For some, their lives and the lives of their families depend upon our products.  Let’s not let them down…. Ever!

In your life, is it clear what comes first? Some may say their faith comes before anything else.  Others may say their family comes first.  Still others may say that serving others is their most important thing.  Do you know for sure what comes first?  Do others know what is most important to you?  Having that clear and firm foundation for life serves as a base upon which everything else is built.  And, we should never have to apologize for what we have chosen as a “first thing.”

So, in our work, let’s re-affirm our commitment today that our patients come first. Everything we do should be done with our patients’ best interests in mind.  In our personal lives, let’s re-affirm what is our true “first thing.”  Let’s individually ensure that we are staying true to those core beliefs we hold.  Thanks for all you do and have a great day!