City of Hope employees crowded Cooper Auditorium last week to learn about the organization’s status in light of the challenging economy as well as plans for its future.

Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president and chief executive officer, addressed more than 400 faculty and staff members at a City Forum on March 25, giving an overview of the many challenges facing City of Hope and discussing plans for moderating the impact of the economy on the organization’s mission of providing exceptional patient care and conducting research.

He described the present period as a time requiring great caution, effort and ingenuity. “We must look fresh and hard at everything we do and embrace change that results in greater efficiency, cost savings or better outcomes,” he said. However, he expressed confidence in both the organization’s and the nation’s abilities to weather the current environment of economic instability.

“I am absolutely confident that we will recover,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much better we will be a year from now, but I feel really certain that we will be better economically as a nation than we are right at this moment.”

After outlining the difficulties similar institutions nationwide have met recently, including workforce reductions, Friedman noted City of Hope will work to avoid reductions. The organization likely will see lower revenue in coming months and will need to adopt changes aimed at preserving jobs, he said.

Friedman also said City of Hope is moving forward with many ongoing programs, including initiatives to enhance patient safety and outpatient service, construction projects, the clinical information system and more effective alignment with the City of Hope Medical Group, among others.

He praised employees for their ongoing work and commitment and urged them to continue to look for ways to increase efficiency wherever possible.

Friedman’s slide presentation is available for download on City of Hope’s intranet home page at www.coh.org.