Tufts MC True Blue Recipient: Matt Larkin, then Department of Medicine Administrative
Director. Matt recently was named Vice President of Operations for Tufts MC Physicians Organization
Nominations from Chair of Medicine Deeb Salem, MD and several of Matt’s colleagues, and Patient Care Services Director Heidi Waitkus, RN:
Excerpts from nomination by Deeb Salem and Matt’s colleagues:
“Matt is the epitome of the adage ‘if you have an important job to get done, give it to a busy person!’ Matt is a tireless manager who has made it his mission to improve customer service, quality of patient care and response time to referring physicians in the nine clinical divisions that he oversees in the Department of Medicine. Matt has been a mentor to all of our division managers and leads with a ‘just do it!’ approach combined with an ‘I’ll help you do it’ approach.
Matt has worked with our Division of Pulmonary Medicine to transform the quality of care in the Lowell General Hospital (LGH) Intensive Care Unit by having our own physicians staff their unit. It was done remarkably quickly and led to rave reviews from LGH clinicians and administrators about Matt’s competence and his inclusive and friendly manner.
“Matt always comes to work with a smile on his face and a positive attitude. In addition to being an extremely hard and dedicated worker, he has the unique ability to make others feel confident about their contributions and encourages all of us to do our best as employees.
“His ability to remain cool and composed during stressful times is amazing. Having turned to Matt on literally hundreds of occasions, I can tell you that he always immediately knows what to say or do to help relieve stress.
“Matt…has a great sense of humor. He fosters team spirit. He is thoughtful, considerate and focused on service excellence. A few years ago when Matt was relatively new, we [were part of a] work group organizing an ICare launch event. Matt was in charge of overseeing the successful implementation of the event. I sent an invitation for a meeting and as a joke wrote that Matt would bring a delicious Bundt cake. On the day of the meeting, Matt walked in a few minutes late, said nothing and dropped a perfect Bundt cake, plates, forks and napkins on the table. This just highlights everything about Matt: he leads, but is also part of the team.
“He never hesitates to share his knowledge, be a sounding board or provide new ideas. He is a go-to resource for so many of us throughout ambulatory. In whatever we’re working on together –standardizing our processes, achieving meaningful use, developing our staff and managers–Matt always challenges the group and asks the right questions to make sure we’ve anticipated as much as we can and helps bring different ideas together. ”
Excerpts from Heidi Waitkus’s nomination:
“In this ever-changing environment, Matt stays nimble, confident and hopeful. He is passionate and focused about his work and drives initiatives by keeping the patient at the center of the conversation. In addition, he is sensitive to all of the members of the health care team and is not only an advocate, but a firm believer that our team needs to be part of the solution.”
