by Luciana Starks

City of Hope recently launched an institution-wide strategic planning process to map out a long-term strategy and plan for its future. The process, called City of Hope: Planning Our Future, will establish organizational priorities and strategies related to emerging opportunities and challenges during the next decade.

Frank Simmons asks a question during a strategic plan presentation. (Photo by Thomas Brown)

The development of City of Hope’s strategic plan is highly collaborative and includes representation from across the institution as well as opportunities for all staff and faculty to share thoughts and ideas.

“Creating a strategic plan will prepare us for a promising future where we can even more effectively work toward our mission to provide excellent care to our patients and conduct research that will lead to new treatment,” said Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president, chief executive officer and holder of the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair.

Representatives from all parts of City of Hope have started sharing ideas and assessing information related to the strategic plan. There are four mission-driven design teams in place addressing clinical operations, education, philanthropy and external relations and research: 

• Clinical Operations Design Team – Chaired by Joseph Rosenthal, M.D., Barron Hilton Chair in Pediatrics
• Education Design Team – Chaired by Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Cancer Etiology
• Philanthropy and External Relations Design Team – Chaired by Kathleen Kane, J.D., chief philanthropy and external relations officer
• Research Design Team – Chaired by David Horne, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine

These teams are building design team-specific current state assessments and assessing market trends and will ultimately propose strategic initiatives to support City of Hope’s mission and vision. In addition, functional work groups focused on facilities, finance, human resources and information technology will launch in the winter and support strategy execution.

The design teams and work groups will have multiple opportunities to work closely together to share information, work in large and small groups and identify promising opportunities for our organization.

Collaboration will continue at what organizers call a “catalyst event” on Dec. 15 and 16. The event will be attended by designated City of Hope leaders, faculty and staff members. This interactive event will enable participants to engage in a creative dialogue about the future of City of Hope by reviewing external trends and working on activities with members from across the organization.

A second catalyst event will be held in the next few months to refine and prioritize the strategic goals identified in the previous event and focus on the key milestones needed to implement the strategy.

“Strategic planning is a powerful tool for setting priorities and making informed decisions about the future,” said Robert Stone, J.D., chief strategy and administrative officer at City of Hope and president and executive officer of the City of Hope Medical Foundation. “City of Hope: Planning Our Future will serve as a blueprint for making decisions that best support our mission in the decade to come.”

City of Hope encourages staff members at all levels of the organization to provide input and stay informed about the strategic planning initiative by visiting the City of Hope: Planning Our Future page on the employee intranet. Go to www.coh.org and click on the Strategic Planning Initiative box for more information.