A look into the 21st century as viewed by a Mayo Health System patient care executive

The 21st century needs to be dedicated to the broader vision of building healthy communities. The challenge for us as leaders in the communities in which we live and work will be to develop a nondisparate shared vision of health that serves all populations from birth to death. Disparity benchmarks and indicators will be key in order to achieve the U.S. Surgeon General's commitment to eliminate the disparities in health in this new century. Florence Nightingale's 19th century vision of creating an environment of healing--together with the Mayo brothers' primary value that the needs of the patient come first, which were set forth during the same time period--needs to guide us as we embark upon our 21st century journey.