“How are we doing?”

Have you ever wondered why we ask this question?
Hearing from you, the patients and families we serve, can help us to ensure that we achieve the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance mission “Together…advancing compassionate quality care”. We are “Caring People, Caring for People”. Hearing from you helps us get better at providing the highest quality health care we can.
We always look for ways to improve the patient experience – hearing from you helps us do that.

Do you know the ways you can tell us about your hospital experience?
We invite your feedback in many ways. They include:

1. Patient Satisfaction Survey: Each year on our behalf, a contracted survey company called NRC Pickersends out over 6,700 random surveys to patients of CKHA. You may get this survey in the mail following your hospital visit. Completing this anonymous survey helps us understand how well we are doing to meet your needs. The results show us our areas of strength, areas for improvement and how we compare to other community hospitals. We encourage you to complete this survey if you receive one. Hearing from you in this way is very important to us. Your feedback helps us to make necessary changes to improve your patient experience and satisfaction with your care.
2. The CKHA website, www.ckha.on.ca asks, “How are we doing?” This section can be filled out on line to submit anonymous feedback, or include contact information if you request a follow-up response
3. Drop boxes: In high traffic locations throughout our hospitals, you will see drop boxes posted on the wall. There, cards are available called “How are we doing?” These cards, which can be filled out and dropped into the box, are collected regularly.
4. Every employee, manager, or executive is expected to receive your feedback as a “gift”. Please feel free to share your compliments, questions and suggestions at any time during or after your stay with us.
5. Other:In addition to the above, we always welcome your comments in person, by phone, or by mail. We may hold community forums, we invite patients and families to volunteer as patient and family advisors, and we listen to the patients’ story – all ways to help us get better.

What we do with the responses we get?
We value your comments, compliments, and concerns and make changes to improve the patient experience based on your feedback. Ever wonder what changes we have made? Here are a few - new furniture in the ED waiting room, patient navigator boards, patient choice visiting policy, including patients and families in rounds in ICU if they choose, medicine rounds every 2 hours, and communication cards for inpatient units.

How you can help
We want to know about your hospital experience. Did we meet or exceed your expectations? Would you recommend us to your family and friends? Hearing from you can help us achieve the high, quality patient and family centred care you need and expect. Help us to improve by providing feedback. Let us know “how we are doing” so we can provide the best care possible.