Growing relationships on the turtle's back: Family Medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network

Healthy and healing relationships thrive in the nurturing and rich soil of humility. This is certainly true for the Department of Family Medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). We began in a musty trailer in the back lot of the hospital. The lingering memory of a satisfying backache after carrying boxes to our trailer office through the late January snows of 1994 still brings a smile. The Department was founded with the mission of creating a "community of healing" for every partner it serves—patients, community, organization, students, residents, faculty, and staff members—and strives to embody principles of relationship centeredness at every level of the organization.