Message from the President
Welcome to the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s.
It's not possible to thank everyone involved in the success of the PPOC over the last more than two decades, but gratitude has always been part of our culture, so I'll do my best. Firstly, I want to thank the members of the PPOC for the privilege of serving you and your patients for the last fifteen years. I have an incredibly rewarding, interesting and inspiring job supporting your hard work to achieve our mission. I want to thank those who helped found the PPOC - Dr. Mike Grady, our first CEO, who couldn't have succeeded without the support of Sandi Fenwick, Jim Mandell, Dr. Gary Fleisher, Paul Hickey and so many other leaders from the Physicians' Organization and the Hospital. Of course, through the years, most of our progress has been due to the talent and the energy contributed by our members. So many members have served on our board, on committees, attending meetings, emailing and calling - all to ensure that we collectively benefit from the incredible talent present in the network. Our colleagues who work at our offices and at Children's have also been critical to our success - managers and administrators, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other clinical professionals--attorneys, technology experts, data scientists and analysts, finance professionals and contracting staff have all made major contributions.
I want to make a few observations about our recent history. I'll follow that with some thoughts about what that story tells us about our future. Shortly after taking the helm, I met with Jim Mandell, the Children's CEO at the time. We began by describing our mission, without which it would have been impossible to create a strategy for success. Fortunately, it didn't take long to bring people together around three central ideas:
- Enabling better care of children,
- Enhancing our members' professional satisfaction and,
- Partnering with Children's and our colleagues in the PO.
That mission has never varied, and I believe that it's even more pertinent than it was a decade ago. It's our north star, and it's shining as brightly as ever!
Spotlight on a PPOC Provider
Dr. Shirley González, Pediatrician, Newton Pediatrics
“The current situation is another reminder of why I went into pediatrics: to devote my life to promoting the health of children, empowering the younger generation to be all that they were made to be, and building the family, no matter the circumstances.”
Dr. Shirley González, “Pediatrician relishes connecting with her patients in new ways” on March 24, 2020, Boston Globe Letters
We sat down to talk with PPOC Pediatrician Dr. Shirley González of Newton Pediatrics in Wellesley to find out about her extensive research and programming surrounding childhood obesity. What we discovered was that Dr. González has fostered a lifelong love of learning, and in 2002, she sought to start a clinical program that would include an element of continuous evaluation; a program that could be effective in different areas, and then change direction if needed. She noticed a gap at that point in time, in obesity studies which lasted more than 3 to 6 months, and which incorporated socioeconomically and ethnically diverse children and their families.
WELCOME TO
PPOC, A NETWORK OF
OVER 500 PHYSICIANS, NURSE PRACTITIONERS, AND PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS
We serve pediatric physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in practices of varying geographies and demographics across the state of Massachusetts. We are a unique IPA in that we focus solely on pediatrics. Being part of the PPOC means being amongst fellow pediatric practitioners who are truly focused on providing the best care to the children we serve, the PPOC is focused on enabling our providers to do just that.
Sandra L. Fenwick, Former President and CEO
In a time when healthcare is ever-changing, achieving the No. 1 ranking reminds all of us at Boston Children’s what inspires us: It's about caring for children, digging deeper in research, and finding new ways to make our care even better. It’s also a reflection of the tireless work our team puts in every single day, providing the highest level of care and reassuring our families that we are here to help.
Boston Children's Hospital