Boston hospital staff shows big heart

The CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was facing the same dire task as many other business heads; reducing staffing costs in response to recession setbacks. According to Kevin Cullen in the Boston Globe, CEO Paul Levy took a quite different approach to the problem, however. He gathered together the hospital's staff of administrators, techs, nurses, aides, therapists, clerks, sanitation workers and all in the auditorium and made a bold proposal.

Rather than lay off the lowest paid staff, those who kept the floors clean, the towels stocked, the patients transported and the residents fed, he asked the gathered crowd if the higher-paid employees would be willing to give up some of their salary and benefits so that these people could keep their jobs.