individual commitment certi cate.
On the certi cate, the employee or
volunteer answers two open-ended
statements: “For me, in my work
role, compassionate care is …” and
“
I am committed to incorporating
compassionate care into my daily
work by …”
“
We ask individuals and
departments to write this commitment
down so that they will spend some
time considering their roles and
responsibilities toward our patients
and visitors and how those actions
can help to ful ll our mission,”
Hyrchuk said.
Hyrchuk pointed out that the
word
compassion
—
meaning “to
su er together with”—is related to
the word
patient
—“
one who su ers.”
“
People who provide
compassionate care engage their
hands and hearts in attending to
the patients’ needs and addressing
their pain and su ering,” he said.
“
at’s how we want to be known,
as caregivers who
respond to the needs
of the whole patient,
seeking to alleviate
su ering and
provide healing.”
Measuring success
To help ensure that compassionate
care and customer service e orts
are hitting the mark, Simi Valley
Hospital measures feedback from
patients and visitors. One of the
most basic ways the hospital does
this is through the CARE program,
which provides paper and online
forms for people to share about their
experiences with hospital sta and
physicians.
In addition, the hospital conducts
ongoing patient satisfaction surveys
through PRC, a national research
rm based in Omaha, Nebraska.
PRC sta telephone recently
discharged patients, asking them
about the physical and spiritual care
they received at Simi Valley Hospital,
the quality of the hospital’s services
and their likelihood to recommend
the hospital to friends and family
members.
e hospital also participates in
the Hospital
Consumer
Assessment
of Healthcare
Providers
and Systems,
better known
as HCAHPS. It is the rst national,
standardized, publicly reported
survey that measures patient
perceptions of acute hospital care.
“
ese various tools not only
help us understand how we’re
doing right now on our customer
service e orts, but they provide us
important information on how we
can do even better in the future,”
said Caroline Esparza, senior
vice president and patient care
executive at Simi Valley Hospital.
“
In everything we do, we want to
always be improving our service to
our patients and visitors.”
In addition to a focus on compassionate
care, Simi Valley Hospital strives to
provide a great experience for patients
and visitors through a variety of other
means, such as:
w
Private patient rooms
w
Daily newspaper delivery to each
patient’s room
w
Gourmet-style celebration meal for new
moms
w
Café Express co ee station in the main
lobby
w
ATM in the main lobby
Special amenities matter
w
The Gift Gallery—a boutique gift
shop
w
Sycamore Cafe—not your typical
hospital cafeteria
w
A planned parking lot shuttle service
w
Spiritual care support for a wide variety
of faith traditions
w
Witman Chapel—a special place for
prayer and re ection
w
The Healing Garden—a relaxing and
meditative outdoor space
w
Arbor Park—another refreshing
outdoor getaway.
At Simi Valley Hospital,
everyone pledges to give
compassionate care.
your health
w
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