MD Anderson launches new Strategy and expands core values

Strategic plan aims to make the greatest impact on the greatest number of people while core values collectively shape unique institutional culture

MD Anderson News Release January 28, 2021

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today launched a pivotal, multi-year Strategy aimed at making the greatest impact on humanity in the institution’s work to end cancer. Developed with direct involvement from front-line cancer fighters and through ideas curated from gifted and talented faculty, MD Anderson’s new Strategy is anchored in its mission and grounded in its unwavering commitment to stakeholders in Texas, across the nation and around the world.

“We could not be more excited for the launch of our new Strategy,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president, who leads a workforce 22,000 strong. “Inspired and informed by the extraordinary accomplishments of our esteemed predecessors, our Strategy will serve as the blueprint for our future successes, discoveries and accomplishments as one of the most respected centers for cancer care and research in the world.”

MD Anderson also announced the establishment of two additional core values, Safety and Stewardship, which will join the institution’s core values of Caring, Integrity and Discovery. Together, these five core values will guide the way MD Anderson employees operate, make decisions and hold themselves accountable.

A new Strategy                                                                      

MD Anderson’s Strategy aligns the institution and its resources around three strategic themes: Reach, Breakthroughs and Value. Coupled with a purposefully designed execution framework, the Strategy will drive cancer care that is more accessible in the communities that MD Anderson serves, develop high-impact research that improves people’s health, and both define and deliver high-value oncology care. The strategic themes also will support signature fundraising priorities that have been deliberately linked to MD Anderson’s new Strategy.

“The process of developing our Strategy was informed by the careful study of our top opportunities and risks,” said Chris McKee, senior vice president, Strategy and Business Development. “The resulting plan encourages us to act on each of these exceptional opportunities while mitigating risks to ensure MD Anderson’s continued resiliency.”

Each theme – Reach, Breakthroughs and Value – contains a series of underlying strategic decisions and actions grounded in the same aspirational principle: to make the greatest impact on humanity to finally end cancer.

“Our Strategy is our road map and it outlines how we plan to accomplish our greatest aspirations,” Pisters said. “It reflects our ambitions, our hopes and our dreams, and it anticipates the dynamic nature of the environment in which we operate. Amid a rapidly changing world, what will never change is our ultimate goal and steadfast commitment to Making Cancer History®.”

Expanded core values

Much like the Strategy, MD Anderson’s new Core Values were developed with the input of stakeholders across the institution. Over the past several years, MD Anderson has made a pronounced pivot to values-based leadership. As the institution evolved, two additional values naturally shifted to the forefront, visible in the everyday work seen on and off campus.

  • Safety: We provide a safe environment — physically and psychologically — for our patients, for our colleagues and for our community.
  • Stewardship: We protect and preserve our institutional reputation and the precious resources —people, time, financial and environmental — entrusted to us.

MD Anderson’s current core values continue to play a crucial role in the institution’s culture.

  • Caring: By our words and actions we demonstrate caring toward everyone.
  • Integrity: We work together with professionalism to merit the trust of our colleagues and those we serve in all that we do.
  • Discovery: We embrace creativity and seek new knowledge from diverse perspectives.

“Our new core values of Safety and Stewardship, together with our decades-long commitment to the core values of Caring, Integrity and Discovery, will shape our path forward in the years to come,” Pisters said. “We embrace the meaning of these values and demonstrate them every day.”