The Linda Crane Lecture From Silos to Bridges: Preparing Effective Teams for a Better Delivery System

Abstract

Good afternoon and thank you for attending this session. It is an honor to be this year's recipient of the Dr. Linda Crane Memorial Lecture Award. When this award was created about 15 years ago, I served as the Editor for the Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal and was very pleased when the decision was made to publish these lectures in the Journal. I knew this would bring some meaningful contributions to our publication and I remember thinking there were many deserving recipients in the cardiopulmonary, pediatric, and education sections. I truly did not expect to be one of them. Before beginning, I would like to thank the selection committee and Drs. Michael Puthoff, Jane Eason, Ellen Hillegass, and Dianne Jewell for their respective roles in nominating me. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to my colleagues, alumni, and current students from St. Ambrose University who are here today. My work with these individuals, in some cases for over 20 years, was an inspiration for the topic I chose to discuss. Like many of the past Linda Crane Award recipients, I had the honor of knowing Dr. Linda Crane. I remember the very first time I met Linda. It was back in the late 1980s and I was attending one of my first Combined Sections Meetings. A doctoral student at the University of Iowa, I came to CSM to present a poster and found myself at the cardiopulmonary research platform presentations one afternoon. I really did not know many people at that time but came in and sat on the end of one of the rows. I think Linda recognized me as a newcomer and slid down several empty spaces between us to introduce herself to me. As we talked, she inquired about my interest in cardiopulmonary physical therapy. It was great to meet someone who was so excited about cardiopulmonary physical therapy. She encouraged me to come to the Section business meeting later that day and then proceeded to introduce me to others in the Section. I remember feeling as though someone had just opened a door for me. If Linda was here with us today, I doubt these generous actions would stand out to her but, her kindness certainly made a positive impact on me. I have listened to almost every Linda Crane Lecture given since the first one by Meryl Cohen in 2000.2 The speakers have covered a wide range of topics important to physical therapy practice and education. They have also provided an opportunity for us to learn more about Linda. She has been described as passionate, outgoing, someone who lived her life to the fullest and someone many physical therapists enjoyed working with … she was the type of person you want on your team. Some of my colleagues are worried that I will be using this opportunity to talk about common structures in the Iowa landscape. While it is true we have many silos and bridges in Iowa, including the famous Bridges of Madison County,3 that is not my intended focus. As I proceed, I hope the purpose of the title becomes more obvious. I'd like to begin by talking about teams.