by Jeff McKune

Having attended a couple of Joe Tye’s seminars, I was eager to read The Healing Tree, a book he first published in 2005. The book is now in its second printing.

The story begins with an evening with Mark and Carrie Anne Murphy and the tragedy that enters their lives. Carrie Anne’s struggle towards recovery is one thread that is carried through the narrative. But a deeper and richer fabric is found in her personal awakening, guided initially by young Maggie, a fellow patient at the hospital who provides unique therapy to Carrie Anne and other patients. Carrie Anne’s despair eventually leads to her discovering a new path for her life, more meaningful and rewarding than anything she had previously imagined. The story alone touched me, and I found myself sometimes both uncomfortable and inquisitive with the introspection it created in me. That alone made the book worth the reading.

It was impossible for me to ignore the glimpses that Joe provides into the healing environment that was a part of the fictional Memorial Hospital. I wondered how some of the innovations Joe discussed would ever get past a Board of Directors. But clearly Memorial Hospital was a hospital focused on much more than physical healing. The hospital’s ongoing transformation was a result of visionary leadership. One phrase that I cannot forget is “the soul of the hospital.” What is the soul of your hospital? How do your efforts contribute to the development and sustaining of that soul?

Throughout the book, Joe also reveals some thoughtful insights into nursing and those that serve in caregiver roles. The bidirectional aspect of the nurse-patient relationship is developed in a discussion between Carrie Anne and Maggie. And toward the end of the book, the hospital CEO reminds us that patients are not the only ones that need healing. Joe is a strong advocate of nursing, and it is no surprise to see this emphasis in The Healing Tree.

I consider The Healing Tree to be one of those books that takes a hospital administrator beyond mechanics and methodology – it invites and encourages visionary and transformational leadership. A section containing discussion questions is included at the end of the book for the purpose of initiating dialog regarding that transformation. Also, there is a website for the book at www.healing-story.com where you can download the companion workbook Healing the Hospital, which I understand has been popular at caregiver and leadership retreats. If you want to spark discussions as to how your hospital can better serve both patients and staff, I invite you to read and share this compelling book.