In the past year, the Patient/Family Relations staff has grown to six service representatives and four coordinators. Each representative is assigned to specific areas of the hospital, where they make rounds, and they also provide overlapping coverage as needs arise. All are trained to assist with interpersonal relations between patients, families and staff, and to meet ever-emerging challenges.
One of the chief roles of Patient/ Family Relations is to mediate difficult situations that can arise. “This is a busy acute-care hospital with a huge census. Therefore, it is even more important to make sure patients’ needs don’t get lost in the shuffle,” said Kathleen Gordon, MSN, MS, director of the Patient/Family Relations Department. “When patients need assistance and they don’t know who to turn to, our staff is available to step in and try to sort things out, to help the patient better understand the process, or to simply increase the patient’s comfort level.”
Patient/Family Relations representatives are available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To access their services, please call ext. 2-6636.