Members of Aiken Regional’s Patient and Family Advisory Committee include, from L to R in the front row: Monica Mazzell, Ruth Gordy, Gail Diggs, Rebecca Palguta and Jewell Eanes. Back row, L to R: Tony Negron, Angela Fleming, Major Joseph Featherston, Eric Muhlbaier, Rev. Paul Bush and Jim Eanes.
Led by Director of Patient Experience Eric D. Muhlbaier, MHA, and Patient Relations and Volunteer Coordinator Angela Fleming, members must be current or former Aiken Regional patients or their family members. “Right now, we have 16 members from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Members include hospital volunteers, ministers, retired military servicemen, a city councilwoman and former patients or their family members,” Muhlbaier says. “It truly takes a village, and this team is the eyes and ears for the community.”
Muhlbaier receives feedback on everything from the emergency room to billing procedures. “Angela is the first point of contact when something needs to be addressed, and we discuss it. Some things can be resolved immediately, while others require thoughtful consideration,” he says. Fleming, who is responsible for patient advocacy, the spiritual care team, volunteers and Mended Hearts™, says it’s been a blessing and a privilege. “I have been here for two years and feel like I was born to do advocacy work. We have a great committee — it’s like having another family,” she says. “Our meetings are successful because our members come back each month, sharing the results of improvements we have implemented, or their thoughts on what else we need to work on.”
Effecting Change
There have been quite a few changes made in the last year stemming from the committee’s monthly meetings. Major Joseph Featherston, USMC, Retired, is one of the group’s biggest supporters. He noticed that patients in the emergency room waited in line for long periods of time just to be checked in and triaged.
Emergency Room Nurse Manager Jaleesa Heyward, RN, BSN, met with the committee and says they enlisted volunteers to greet patients and direct them through the check-in process. New signage directs patients to appropriate waiting areas, and more seating is available. “Then we created a pod system, separating the treatment rooms by the category of care, from true emergency issues to a fast track area that addressed minor healthcare needs. This re-design enabled us to cut our wait time by more than 50 percent and provide the most efficient levels of care,” she says.
Featherston says the committee has a strong interest in helping to find solutions that increase patient satisfaction, so patients don’t have to go outside of Aiken. Ruth Gordy agrees. A former risk manager for Aiken County, she is proud to be on the committee. She says it’s a great thing for everyone to work together to make improvements. “This is our hospital, and many of the employees live here in Aiken, too,” she says. “We want to know what we can do to help provide a great patient experience.”
Reverend Paul Bush is a committee member who is very active in the area. He performs chaplain duties and visits patients who request spiritual support, day or night. He says patients will sometimes request that he share a question or concern with the committee. “We discuss the matter at the meeting and follow up with the patient,” says Bush. “We are always working to make the hospital the best it can be, and we want patients to feel they are being heard.”
Other positive changes and improvements include newly repaved parking lots with additional handicapped parking spots; placards that identify medical staff by their uniform color; and more open communication with patients from the clinical staff who often are in and out of patient rooms to check vital signs, draw blood or take the patient for diagnostic testing.
Muhlbaier says the committee is a great resource for the people of Aiken and they truly care about meeting the needs of patients and their families. “Every day is a new opportunity to give our patients the best possible experience at Aiken Regional,” he says.