Member, Providence Health Care Patient Flow Committee

We need your help to support our current work and plan for the new St. Paul’s Hospital! Help us reach our ultimate goal to ensure patients receive “the right care, in the right place, and at the right time.”

Open to: Patient partners in the Lower Mainland & Fraser Valley

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care – Acute Care

Aim

The Patient Flow Committee informs and monitors initiatives at St. Paul’s Hospital, Mount Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Holy Family Hospital related to the movement of patients in hospital beds, daily inpatient flow activities and transitions to home or community services. The patient partners joining this committee will participate in reviewing and addressing ideas for improvements related to flow.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the research partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

• Experience with hospital to community transitions
• Comfort working and contributing in large groups
• Patient partners do not need to be data experts, though some familiarity with interpreting data to make decisions would be helpful

If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Volunteer Agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact the engagement leader directly.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 2
• Committee meetings are held monthly. Typically meetings are held on the third Monday of the month from 0800-0900, though this does vary occasionally, and has the potential to change.
• Participation can be either in-person or by teleconference.
• Initial commitment for this committee is a one year term, with possibility of renewal.

Reimbursement

Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, taxi, parking up to $18/day, approved mileage up to 60km each direction) to attend meetings will be reimbursed. Payment is through Providence Health Care’s finance department and may take a few weeks.

Background

The population in the Lower Mainland is growing and aging. We have to ensure that quality health care continues to be available to those who need it most. It is important to have the patient's voice present in any discussions about how we plan for future acute care capacity and transitions to home or the community. We participate in the Home is Best philosophy which is that the home, with appropriate supports, is generally the best place for a patient to recover from illness or manage chronic conditions. The patient partners would participate in monthly committee meetings with a multidisciplinary team and may also be asked to participate in smaller working groups. This participation could be in person or via teleconference. We have had a patient partner involved in this role for more than a year. This person has had to reorganize their time commitments and we are looking at replacing the role. We are an acute based committee but are very dependent upon the work of our community partners to ensure the smoothest possible transitions for patients.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca