Patient and family advisors

Advisors can contribute by:

• Participating in discussion groups. MultiCare Yakima Memorial can gather patient and family advisors together for a meeting to get feedback on a specific process or resource for patients and families.
• Revising or helping create educational or informational materials for patients and families. Patient and family advisors can work with MultiCare Yakima Memorial to help create or revise forms, letters, handouts, instructions and other materials.
• Serving on a committee or workgroup. Hospital or unit committees and workgroups can invite patient and family advisors to participate for a short time period to get feedback and ideas on a specific topic.

Apply to volunteer as a patient and family advisor.

When you or your family member was in the hospital, did you think there were things we could have done better? Do you have ideas about how to make sure other patients and families get the best care possible? Those are both great reasons to join.

You can be an advisor if you or a family member received care at MultiCare Yakima Memorial in the last 5 years.

What's most important is your experience as a patient or family member. We will provide you with any other training you need.

• Brainstorming and creativity activities with the staff that do the work.
• Sharing the patient perspective.
• Reviewing and learning about current processes.

There are different levels of time commitment, from a onetime meeting to several key meetings in a row. We look forward to working with you as we transform healthcare.

When you or your family member was in the hospital, did you think there were things we could have done better?

Do you have ideas about how to make sure other patients and families get the best care possible?

At MultiCare, patient and family advisors give us feedback and ideas to help us improve the quality and safety of care we provide.

Apply to volunteer as a patient and family advisor.

You can be an advisor if you or a family member received healthcare services in the last 5 years.

You do not need any special qualifications to be an advisor.

What's most important is your experience as a patient or family member. We will provide you with any other training you need.

• Brainstorming and creativity activities with staff that do the work.
• Direct observations where the work is being done.
• Actively testing ideas with a team.
• Sharing the patient perspective.
• Reviewing and learning of current processes.

There are different levels of time commitment you can choose:

• Personal interview (1 to 2 hours).
• Panel participation (1 to 3 hours).
• Visioning Day (one-day event).
• Kaizen Event (two-day event).
• Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW) (five-day event).

We look forward to working with you as we transform healthcare.

The MultiCare Yakima Memorial Patient and Family Advisory Council is a formal group of patient and family representatives, clinicians, administrators, and organizational leaders that meet once a month to discuss issues that matter. It's an opportunity to offer feedback about how we're doing and to share ideas for improvement. YVM leaders and clinicians use the information and recommendations generated from these discussions to continually improve patient and family care throughout the organization.

Apply to volunteer as a patient and family advisor.

When you or your family member was in the hospital, did you think there were things we could have done better or do you have ideas about how to make sure other patients and families get the best care possible? Those are both great reasons to join.

You can be an advisor if you or a family member received care at YVM in the last five years.

You do not need any special qualifications to be an advisor.

Council members are encouraged to communicate and cooperate in productive ways, respecting diversity and differing opinions, in order to collaborate on solutions. Members must adhere to confidentiality requirements and other responsibilities of the program. All members must be 18 years of age or older.

• Ensure the community has a voice in how healthcare is administered in the Yakima Valley.
• Collaborate to improve the quality of service we provide.
• Help evaluate policies, programs and practices to identify opportunities to improve patient and family satisfaction.
• Generate and discuss new ideas to drive initiatives.

The Patient and Family Advisory Council meets one time each month for 1.5 hours.

We look forward to working with you as we transform healthcare.