Patients and families celebrating holidays and special occasions while in hospital will now have the opportunity to host gatherings in a home-like environment at CKHA’s Chatham Site; giving them meaningful private time away from inpatient units.
The Patient and Family Celebration Room at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance’s (CKHA) Chatham Site offers patients and families a private space to celebrate holidays and special occasions away from the clinical environment. Pictured from left to right: Megan Canniff, Marketing & Community Relations Officer, CKHA Foundation, Lori Marshall, President & CEO, CKHA, Deb Charbonneau, Occupational Therapy/Physiotherapy Assistant, CKHA and Jarrod Prieur, Clinical Manager, Rehabilitation Unit, Integrated Stroke Unit and Therapy Services, CKHA.
The idea for a dedicated celebration room came during the 2017 Christmas holidays when Deb Charbonneau, a patient family member as well as a CKHA staff member, learned her mother would be spending time in the hospital away from family over the holiday season. The family was looking for a private room that would be comfortable for family members and young grandchildren to visit Deb’s mother away from the clinical environment. Through a special request, the family made use of one of the spacious staff meeting rooms with an adjoining kitchenette on the lower level. This turned out to be a great solution as the family came together to celebrate the Christmas holiday and enjoyed the private space. After her family’s positive experience, Deb brought forth the idea to continue using this space, which often remains empty on evenings and weekends, for patients and families to utilize as a celebration room.
Through support from CKHA the kitchenette was recently refurbished and a Patient and Family CARE Grant from the CKHA Foundation will be used to purchase decorations to create a home-like atmosphere. The meeting room and kitchenette are now available to book outside of regular business hours and are intended to provide space that affords the comforts of home for patients and their families. Staff will continue to follow the status quo protocol when signing out a patient off the unit to use the celebration room.
“We are pleased to offer the Patient and Family Celebration Room to all inpatients and their families who want to celebrate and spend time together away from their hospital room,” said Lori Marshall, President and CEO, CKHA. “This is a great example of our team’s commitment to improving the patient experience.”
CKHA’s Patient and Family Celebration Room is located on the ground floor at the Chatham Site. Patients and families are asked to speak to their health care providers to book the room.
