Patient and Family Advisory Council

Established 2016

The Patient and Family Advisory Council Charge

The Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is dedicated to strengthening collaboration between patients and family members and the health care team so as to enhance RWJ Hamilton’s ability to deliver the highest standard of safe, comprehensive and compassionate health care.

Principal Responsibilities of the PFAC

• Provide information to administrative, clinical and medical staff about the needs and concerns of patients and family members
• Work with staff to improve services that affect patients and family members
• Participate as appropriate in the design or redesign of patient care areas
• Assist in the planning of new patient-related programs
• Serve as a resource to the health care team, providing the patient and family perspective on a wide variety of patient-related issues, including quality, patient safety, service excellence, staff recruitment, program planning, services and policies

Who Is Involved?

The RWJ University Hospital Hamilton PFAC currently has six members, all with different backgrounds and experiences. All of them have either been patients or have family members who have been patients at the hospital. Their knowledge of how the hospital operates, from a patient point of view, is valuable information as we continuously strive to enhance care and patient experience. All six of our current PFAC members are active volunteers at the hospital.

Advisory Council Members

Accomplishments

• Provided input into the discharge lean project, which helped improve patient discharge times by over 30 minutes.
• Helped to develop the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patient brochure, which helps to educate families on the care in the ICU.
• Provided recommendations on questions to be included on the patient satisfaction survey.
• Tested and provided feedback on the Central Scheduling app designed to assist in patient registration.

For more about how PFACs have been making quality improvements across the RWJBarnabas Health system, visit our Accomplishments page.

If you have questions or would like to join the PFAC, contact Jennifer Shorey at (609) 584-6550.