A corporation is not a “natural” person, but corporations, in the eyes of the law, have rights and responsibilities much like an individual. An institution, such as Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, is not a person either.  However, we are an entity designed to perform specific functions in society; and therefore, we are responsible to society for our actions, as is an individual.

Our role is to improve the health of people by providing educational opportunities for students and health care professionals, advancing knowledge through scholarship and research, and providing patient care and service.

To carry out our portion of this important role, Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock has its “ideals” which include mission, vision, values and key performance indicators. It is our values that I want to talk about today—these core concepts such as respect, integrity and service excellence.

Research reveals that most corporate value statements are about six core values, these include trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Ours follow that pattern and are service excellence, patient first, integrity, respect, innovation and teamwork, which we can remember by the use of the acronym SPIRIT.

For each of the next six weeks, we will publish in SPIRIT5 an article, written by one of you, on one of the six SPIRIT values.  We will take them in the order presented above.  So, the first one that will appear next week is on service excellence. The assignment is to write about the importance of service excellence to the success of Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock.

We will only publish one article on each topic, so if we have multiple entries, a small panel of judges will select the article that will appear.  The author’s picture and a brief bio will also appear.  In addition, the author of each selected article will receive a free autographed copy of Dean Steven L. Berk’s popular book, Anatomy of a Kidnapping, which he will personalize for the recipient.

Send your articles to  brent.magers@ttuhsc.edu by 5 p.m. Friday for publication the following Tuesday.  (How long should the article be? About the same length as the one you are reading.)