Leadership Spotlight: Lois Silverman Yashar

Lois Silverman Yashar as a student at the Beth Israel Hospital School of Nursing, 1961

After receiving a $300 scholarship to attend Beth Israel Hospital’s nursing school, Lois Silverman Yashar received her nursing degree in 1961. In 2005, she became the first woman chair of the Board of Directors at BIDMC and has served on virtually every lay leader committee at the medical center, including most recently its philanthropic arm, the Foundation. With an award-winning professional career that spanned more than 30 years in business, Mrs. Yashar founded CRA Managed Care, a provider of services to reduce insurance claims costs, and The Commonwealth Institute, a non-profit committed to helping women entrepreneurs and senior executives build successful companies.

Q: What is your favorite memory of being a nursing student at Beth Israel Hospital?
A: Kirstein Hall on Beth Israel’s campus was my home for three years. I and my fellow nursing students made lifelong friendships. I doubt any of us will forget the joy we felt in witnessing a birth and the sorrow we felt at a loss. And of course Kirstein was the place of our candle-lighting ceremony—a nursing school graduate rite of passage—and where many of us met our future husbands, colleagues, and friends.

Q: What was your biggest accomplishment as chair of the Board of BIDMC?

Lois Silverman Yashar as Chair of the Board of Directors at BIDMC, 2007
A: I had the privilege of being the first woman Board chair not only of BIDMC, but of any Harvard teaching hospital as well. I like to think that achieving this milestone paved the way for other women to follow in my footsteps as leaders in medicine, in non-profits, and in philanthropy. As the place where I began my career, the hospital was always a very personal passion, and by becoming Board chair I was able to advance the some of the priorities that were meaningful to me right from the start like enhancing the quality of our care and improving the patient experience. It was also fulfilling for me on an individual level—it was here that I became part of a family, it was here that I developed relationships, and it was here that I found a voice and a seat at the table.

Q: What are some of the most memorable milestones you have witnessed and/or participated in over the course of your involvement with the medical center? How have they prepared us for a successful future?

Lois Silverman Yashar in 1996 at the time of the merger between Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital
A: Is there anything in our history that can possibly surpass the merger of two outstanding institutions—the Beth Israel and the Deaconess? We carried forward the best of both and are stronger because of it. And yet it is the smaller achievements that have made us so successful—the development of primary care nursing, the growth of philanthropy, and the continued focus on quality and safety, which has become a mantra throughout the institution. So our mutual historical culture of compassion, respect, and always putting the patient first combined with our ongoing commitment to advancing the field of medicine makes us completely unique and poised for success in the marketplace.

Q: In 2006, you and your late husband, Norman, named the Silverman Institute for Health Care Quality and Safety, the hub of our efforts in this area. Why did you think it was important for the hospital to become a leader in this field and what are its achievements that have impressed you most?

Lois Silverman Yashar with Michael F. Epstein, M.D., at the 2010 Silverman Institute Symposium
A: I think few people realize the behind-the-scenes details that go into providing high-quality, safe patient care, and it is what makes the difference between a good hospital and a great hospital. We have always been an institution that has focused on quality and safety as measured by our high ratings from the Joint Commission [the independent accreditor of health care institutions in the United States]. But when I first became Board chair one of my major goals was to take patient quality and safety to a new level. We voted as a Board that our mission should be to completely eliminate preventable harm—the only academic medical center at the time to do so—and we made incredible strides toward fulfilling this goal. By establishing the Silverman Institute, we put BIDMC on a larger map in quality and safety. Formalizing the Institute allowed us the opportunity to apply for grants, to hold a yearly symposium, and to promote innovation in patient care, which helps us continue to grow and repeatedly win national awards in this critical area.

Q: You have been one of the biggest champions of philanthropy at the medical center. Why is charitable giving so important in fulfilling our mission?

Lois Silverman Yashar doing fundraising calls for Beth Israel Hospital’s “Big-a-thon,” 1993
A: As someone for whom a $300 nursing scholarship became the basis of all the good things in my life, I never needed to be convinced of the power of philanthropy. Many years ago, I was asked to chair fundraising at Beth Israel Hospital. The volunteer program was divided into two segments—individual and corporate giving. Not surprisingly, at that time, corporate giving was headed up by men only. In speaking with the corporate chair, Jay Fialkow, I mentioned that this was an area of special importance to me and that I wanted to grow, and it would only be by working among the leaders that I would have the opportunity to learn and to understand how the hospital worked. It became both groundbreaking and personally fulfilling for me. Today, the Foundation [BIDMC’s committee on philanthropy] allows its members to become closer to the institution and to understand that it is charitable giving that gives us the ability to create innovative programs, conduct research, and make capital improvements for better patient care.

Q: You founded The Commonwealth Institute to help women in business “become and remain successful.” What do you think was your secret to success as a businesswoman?
A:It was a huge change going from a business world to a not-for-profit, where everyone has an equal say. I believe that transition taught me patience and the necessity of building a community. My time in business and The Commonwealth Institute, as well as raising children, have all helped me become a better leader.

Q: Who was/is the woman who inspired you most?
A: My parents died when I was very young, and for many years it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other to get where I needed to be. Years later, I read a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Her words became an inspiration. She always pushed the idea of dreaming big dreams and turning them into reality. I have been fortunate to have so many dreams become a reality, including the opportunity to be a part of the BID community.

Q: If you had to pick an historical era in which to live, when would it be and why?
A: Life to me is about being forward thinking. I would like to peek down 100 years from now and see the changes we cannot even imagine. Think about the advances in the past 100 years that our grandparents would not have dreamt of—computers, television, medical advances. Perhaps we will see a cure for those diseases that today cause such heartache and a drain on our financial resources.

Lois Silverman Yashar at the celebration of her retirement as BIDMC Chair of the Board of Directors, 2009
Q: What are the best and worst anniversary gifts you have ever received?
A: All gifts are wonderful—big or small. I received the most outstanding gift on my 50 year anniversary of service to BID. The medical center presented me with a beautiful charm bracelet with each charm representing a part of my relationship with the hospital—an apple for health and wellness, a heart for compassionate care, a palm tree for philanthropy [a nod to BIDMC’s annual Palm Beach event], and a key for leadership. At the event held at the end of my term as board chair—a magical celebration of friends, family, and staff—I was presented with another charm, a circle, which symbolizes my involvement with BIDMC coming “full circle.”