Cooper University Health Care and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper are pleased to announce the formation of Patient and Family Advisory Councils. These councils are a demonstration of the values Cooper places upon its relations with the community and exemplifies continued commitment to the values of ownership, integrity, family centered care, and team work. Cooper believes that the establishment of these councils will foster a healthier environment to enhance the patient experience as well as ensure we have the tools needed to provide quality medical care in a safe environment for patients and their families.
The Patient and Family Advisory Council at Cooper University Health Care was established in August 2015. At that time the vision, mission, and bylaws were created. In the ensuing two years, the council participated in many exciting and productive projects that included reviewing our external website, the Quality and Safety web pages, and our online Patient Information Guide. With each project on their list, they made suggestions and changes to enhance them and make them more user friendly. One of the more noticeable improvements was the decision to coordinate the colors on the elevators to correspond with Cooper’s visitor passes, for ease of wayfinding. The council is also responsible for the new signage in the parking garage as well as new signs that offer important valet information to our customers. The council has addressed concerns of patients and worked to achieve process improvements.
MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper proudly established their Patient and Family Advisory Council in 2015. Goals focused on getting input from patients and their families. Over the past two years, the council has been active in giving feedback on new patient materials, patient education, and marketing efforts. The council also brought up concerns around pain management and preparation for core biopsy, which prompted our Section of Breast Surgery to do a performance improvement study based on the council’s feedback. This year, the council is focused on survivorship and how to celebrate this part of the journey. Cancer patients and their families are welcomed to join by reaching out to Francis Lee at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper at 856.735.6240.
The councils’ participants include community members, staff, physicians, and patients and their family members. Each member was carefully selected to ensure the representation of diverse backgrounds within the Cooper population. The objective of the councils is to assist Cooper leadership in improving any aspect of care, safety, service excellence, program development, communications, facility design, and patient and family education that may need attention. The specific focus of these councils is to enhance and to improve the patient experience by promoting patient and family advocacy.
The Patient and Family Advisory Councils meet monthly. We welcome the opportunity to assist with any projects by providing the councils’ objective input to enhance the Patient Experience. For more information, can contact Kim Santana, Director of Patient Experience and Civil Rights Coordinator, via email at santana-kim@cooperhealth.edu or at 856.342.2534.