June 16, 2004

Dear Colleagues:

We did it! With your help, we were able to demonstrate to critical groups, from our Trustees to State agencies, that Johns Hopkins Medicine has the fiscal discipline to support our campus redevelopment.

The master plan and the rate structure needed to support it now have been approved. To help us pass these major hurdles, you held the line on costs whenever and wherever possible to do so responsibly. Even more impressive, you were willing to delay your annual increase for three months, to tide us over a rough spot.

We greatly appreciate your sacrifice, and are delighted to tell you that there will be no delay in implementing annual increases in the coming year. Of course, cost control continues to be imperative. We trust that you will continue to perform in a way that will support the rebuilding so important to the care of our patients, as well as to our research and teaching missions.

Sincerely,