PRINTColumbia’s hospitals at your service
Concierge-like amenities make patients’ experiences ritzy
Courtesy of Stock Exchange
December 18, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
No one ever wants to be in the hospital, and certainly no one wants to leave with an exposed backside. But that’s what almost happened to a patient at University Hospital. The man, who was from out of town, was involved in a car accident and his clothes had to be cut off. Hospital coordinators stepped in, so he wouldn’t have to leave in a hospital gown.
“One of the coordinators went to the store and got him some clothes,” says Ted Brandt, manager of Hospitality Services for University Hospital. “He was meeting with his peers, and he didn’t want to be in a gown and look sick.”
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In an effort to ease patients’ minds, Columbia’s hospitals are working to provide patients with new amenities and facilities to make the stay more hospitable.
University hospitality
“We’ve placed hospitality coordinators on every inpatient floor,” says Jeff Hoelscher, media relations coordinator for University of Missouri Health Care. “They make daily rounds and check on patients to see if they need anything.” Brandt says there are 15 coordinators in all, 11 at University Hospital (about one for each hospital wing) and four at Columbia Regional. Patients can call a number and put in their requests, and a hospitality coordinator will meet most needs, much like a hotel concierge. Brandt says the program was modeled after a hotel known for its luxury services, The Ritz-Carlton.
“A patient may need an extra blanket or a pillow or a newspaper, or the TV’s not working, any number of things,” Hoelscher says. “There’s a concierge who the patients can call. Within minutes the patient radios the hospitality coordinator on that floor, and the coordinator takes care of that need as soon as possible.”
The program began at University Hospital in October 2007 with coordinators assigned to Columbia Regional Hospital in March 2008. “It kind of stemmed from the nursing shortage,” Brandt says. “We recognized the nurses were doing a lot of tasks that didn’t require clinical skills.”
Prior to the program, nurses were taking time out of clinical work to help the patients’ families find hotels or grab blankets, which are things that most people can do. Brandt says the hospitality coordinator program is still a new movement with other hospitals gearing similar programs toward employee satisfaction and convenience rather than what’s best for their patients. “The patients really like this program, and it makes a big difference because they’re also stopping by and talking with them,” Hoelscher says. “And in many cases, it’s the conversation that means a lot to them.”
The hospitals also offer other services to help patients be more comfortable such as free valet parking for patients and family and a room service system so they can eat at their convenience. “Patients can order their food, what they want, when they want it,” Hoelscher says. With the old system, at times patients would leave their room for tests or other procedures, and their food would be delivered while they were away. When the patient returned, their food could be cold.
Boone’s approach
Boone Hospital Center Customer Relations Coordinator Amy Cook says the hospital’s hospitality programs are more focused on building relationships between hospital personnel and the patients. In the bedside reporting program, which Boone Hospital Center is in the process of starting, the team of nurses will go to each bedside to determine the plan of care with the patients instead of to the nursing station.
“I think the patients do like participating in their plan of care,” Cook says. “The patients know they have rights, and I think the response so far has been overwhelmingly good.”
Cook says Boone Hospital provides other services based on patients’ needs and suggestions, including offering computers to patients and wireless Internet for those who bring laptops. Aromatherapy, massage and music therapy are also available to patients as part of treatment.
And sometimes, the services can be as simple as picking up a book. Brandt says hospitality coordinators have taken inspirational books to patients that are about people who have dealt with the same conditions.
He hopes the University Hospital’s hospitality coordinator program will continue to meet the needs of the hospital as Americans get older and sicker. But until then, Columbia’s hospitals will continue to address the needs of patients to make sure they are comfortable and clothed.
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