Celebrating our Volunteers

Patient and Family Advisors are the “Stars” of Patient and Family Centred Care at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and Jeannie Faubert is a shining example.

A retired school teacher who is married with 2 daughters aged 18 and 21, Jeannie decided to become a Patient Family Advisor (PFA) because she was “full of admiration” for the hospital personnel who so thoroughly embraced the concept of Patient and Family Centred Care and wanted to be a part of this positive initiative. Jeannie has been a PFA for approximately one year.

In addition to being a PFA, Jeannie has taken additional Patient Experience training which enables her to survey patients in the Emergency Department. These surveys provide valuable information that helps TBRHSC understand the patients’ experiences during their visit to the Emergency Department. The information from these surveys is used to make changes in the department to improve the patient experience. Not only does Jeannie conduct the surveys with the patients, she also compiles all of the data into a computer program.

Jeannie says she enjoys the interactions with the patients when she is doing the surveys and hears many positive comments from patients. She thinks the employees are doing a great job caring for the patients.

Jeannie has also been involved in hiring panels, the Patient and Family Centred Care (PFCC) Leadership Council, Patient Family Advisory Council, and is a member of the Patient Experience Working Group for Regional Cancer Care. She has also travelled to Toronto to represent the voice of our PFAs and attended the first Patient Advisor Summit.

Being involved in improving patients’ experience has been very rewarding, says Jeannie. “Being a PFA is a very positive experience in that one can help make a difference in patient satisfaction.”