The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is seeking individuals who are passionate about improving the patient experience to fill a variety of patient advisor volunteer positions.
Hospital officials say patient advisors are important partners in the delivery of healthcare as they bring the unique perspective of the patient, family member or caregiver, to ensure CKHA is responsive to the needs of patients and families who use the hospital’s services.
“Patient Advisors are key in helping us achieve the delivery of high quality patient and family centred care,” stated Lori Marshall, president and CEO, in a press release.
“Their feedback, insights and ideas help us continually improve the quality of care and services we provide to our community.”
CKHA requires patient advisors to be either a patient who has experience using hospital services, or a family member or caregiver of a patient who has used services within the last two years.
Patient advisors can participate on the patient experience council in many ways, through various program councils, committees, new employee orientations and interviews, experienced-based co-design projects, focus groups and a variety of other special projects.
New to the patient experience council is the opportunity to become an e-advisor.
An e-advisor is a patient advisor that participates electronically to give the organization feedback on various projects, educational material, patient information brochures and other projects that do not require an in-person meeting or attendance.
“Patients and their family members bring a valuable perspective to our staff, physicians and the organization as a whole,” stated Amanda Perini, patient advisor specialist, in a press release.
“A patient advisor council will provide CKHA with a mechanism to achieve greater patient satisfaction and overall better healthcare outcomes.”
Mark Deneau, a patient advisor, says the opportunity for him to become a patient advisor was driven by a negative experience at CKHA.
“After providing my feedback, the staff engaged me for my opinions, and took the necessary steps to improve the process and shared these improvements with me,” he said in a press release.
“I believe the organization values my insights and wants to improve the delivery of services it provides to our community. I enjoy the challenge of looking at something with a fresh set of eyes, with a variety of experiences from each committee member. It is rewarding to recommend a practical solution to make the patient experience better.”
To find out more about the patient advisor council, interested applicants are encouraged to visit www.ckha.on.ca (the patient advisor application can be found under the patient experience page).
Click here to be taken directly to the online application.
Applicants may be contacted for an interview.
Successful applicants must pass a health review and a police clearance, hospital officials say.
