The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Advisory council creates garden for those who died of COVID-19
MIDDLETOWN — The Middlesex Health Patient and Family Advisory Council is celebrating 10 years of service to the patients and families cared for by Middlesex Health.
Council members include patients and their family members, caregivers and health system staff, and their mission is to collaborate with Middlesex Health on opportunities to achieve the highest quality, safest and most respectful and compassionate care, according to a press release.
The council’s goals are to improve the patient and family experience, promote patient and family-centered care, strengthen communication and collaboration between patients and their families and the health system, educate patients and their families about the importance of taking responsibility for their own health and health care, and provide input for achieve the highest level of patient safety, the statement said.
Over the past decade, the council has contributed positively to Middlesex, the health center said. It created checklists to help hospital patients know what to expect during their stay, collaborated with hospital staff to design patient-friendly hospital room white boards and supported the implementation of a uniform policy that requires Middlesex staff members to wear a specific color uniform based on their department, it said.
Most recently, the Patient Family Advisory Council installed a plaque recognizing staff for their efforts during the pandemic, and COVID-19 memorial garden, located across from the hospital’s main entrance. About 300 daffodil bulbs were planted last fall for patients who died from COVID-19.
Others were planted in memory of those who died from COVID-19 and were loved ones of Middlesex Health employees.
“We are a diverse group with one collective voice that speaks up for all of the patients and families served under the Middlesex Health umbrella,” Sheila Daniels, a Middletown resident and co-chairwoman of the Patient and Family Advisory Council, said in the statement.