Message from Keith Taylor, Co-Chair, Patient and Family Advisory Council

Many times during the year I find myself in conversation explaining to someone or a group how it is that Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre has a true partnership with patients through our Patient and Family Advisor (PFA) program. Even though the PFA program is now 10 years old, not everyone understands how much input PFAs have. We help make every major decision at the Hospital from hiring executives to creating policy. The list of projects that patients and staff have worked on together is astounding.

What jumps out at me though are the effects this partnership has on reaching the goals we set out in our Strategic Plan 2020. The strategic plan is our guide and roadmap to how we are going to deliver health care services to our regional patients. Without this plan, we would be like a ship without a rudder.

I’m happy to report that our completion rates for the goals in our strategic plan are some of the highest in the province. We have learned that the more we engage our patients at all levels, the greater our results will be. The input of PFAs improves policies, helps make health care programs more patient- and family-centred, and in turn leads to better outcomes for patients.

The strategic plan is a good example of something very important that starts in the boardroom and works its way to direct care at the bedside, and how PFAs enhance that care along the way. Personally, I feel a sense of pride knowing that every area of that plan was developed and improved thanks the partnership between the Hospital, our patients, and our community. We have developed such a strong working relationship, and a lot of hospitals around the country come to us to learn how to bring Patient and Family Centred Care (PFCC) into their own hospitals.

Congratulations to our staff, professional staff, volunteers, PFAs and donors again this year for their hard work and dedication. We are all true partners in our goal to live “Healthy Together”.

Keith Taylor
Co-Chair, Patient and Family Advisory Council