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When
A. J. Rigby, of Pawleys Island, stopped
by Georgetown Memorial Hospital’s administrative
suite in 2010 to complain about what he described
as “lousy service” during a recent inpatient stay,
the last thing he expected was to find himself
a committed member of a new group devoted
to improving the patient experience. But that’s
exactly what happened.
For Kathie Sheffing, the catalyst for joining the
new group was rooted in concern that the hospital’s
reputation didn’t match the patient experience.
Sheffing, who had the opposite experience of Rigby,
was looking for a way to “share the positives.” A
Georgetown County resident for 17 years, Sheffing
says she sometimes heard negative comments about
the hospital. But when her son was injured and
admitted to Georgetown Memorial Hospital (GMH),
Sheffing says she didn’t know what those people were
talking about. So when she was offered the chance
to join the group, she signed on in a hurry. “I really
wanted the opportunity to find out more so I could
share the information and tell the truth to others in
the community,” she says.
Several other members of the new group, known
as the Georgetown Hospital System Community
Council, cited still other motivations to participate,
including a desire to learn more about health care
and the local community hospital, pride in the
hospital, and improvement.
Emma Holmes, of Georgetown, says she’s had many
family members in the community hospital over the
years. “I’ve seen improvement,” she says. “By being
part of the council, I thought maybe I could share
that information. I also want to make sure we can stay
home and have care in our local community hospital
if we want to do that, without having to go out of
town for health care services.”
James Grant, a former patient as well as longtime
GMH employee (now retired), says the atmosphere
at the Community Council meetings is important. “I
really value the open and honest discussion of this
group,” he says. “I think it helps us continue making a
difference.”
For Elder Lester John Drayton Sr., whose wife spent
more than a year as a patient at GMH, Community
Council participation provides an opportunity to
share the perspective of a patient family member
and caregiver—and bring concerns and issues from
extended community contacts to the group. “I’m so
glad to be on this committee,” he says. “I’m learning
a lot.”
A new view
The Community Council—one of many organized
quality-focused efforts in place today throughout
Georgetown Hospital System—represents a whole
new way of looking at, learning from and improving
the patient experience.
“For years, we took patient complaints seriously,
but once the complaint had been resolved to that
particular patient’s satisfaction, we moved on,”
says Pat Gould, GHS customer service coordinator
and Community Council committee chairwoman.
“This new model encourages former patients, as
well as other community members, to become more
involved not only in their own care as a patient—
but it also gives them a way to impact the care
experience of other patients. That is something
we haven’t really done in an organized way before.
It’s helping us to better understand the patient’s
perspective.”
The community is represented by a diverse
group of residents with various motivations to
participate, and the rest of the Community Council
membership is equally diverse, bringing many
different perspectives to the table. GHS employees
involved in clinical areas, as well as service excellence,
quality improvement, case management, the
foundation, communications, medical staff,
and many more areas also are part of the group
that meets monthly.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL
You can make a
difference
YOUR HOSPITAL
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GEORGETOWN HOSPITAL SYSTEM