Hospitality and health care may not seem like a likely combination, but the team of Guest Services Caregivers make it a priority, every day.
A recent focus was given to those who are waiting for a surgical patient. Judi O’Connell, Manager Guest Services along with Guest Services Specialists Janine Medley and Alana Szymonzki, worked to enhance their experience.
Step one involved enhancing a waiting space much closer to the new surgical suites. Moving visitors and guests out of the Bruce Lien waiting room, across the campus, to a space much closer to the new surgical spaces. After that, it was a matter of enhancing the space to be more comfortable and provide real-time updates on a patient’s progression in surgery.
“The waiting area went from a boring space to a lovely space that is colorful, busy and a bit crazy,” says Judi O’Connell.
Janine and Alana work full-time at a desk near the Rapid City Lobby fireplace, in the heart of the action. They support visitors throughout their stay, offering directions to the main cafeteria, providing distractions by way of crossword puzzles or magazines.
“I enjoy the people that come in,” says Janine. “I enjoy helping them. I enjoy getting to know them and talking about things outside of the hospital. Sometimes you get to know them really well, by name, even, and it’s nice to be able to have that kind of relationship with some of our patients and their families.”
Wait time can be unpredictable and visitors are often eager for any kind of updates they can get, so a major part of Janine and Alana’s job is to help visitors understand when they can proceed to see patients. “People get lost easily,” says Alana. “And so even though they’ve checked in up front, they’ll stop here and ask us, ‘How do I get to the towers? How do I get to the cafeteria? Where are the coffee shops? Where’s the gift shop?’ And so we’re able to help those people, in addition to our duties here.”
Janine and Alana’s efforts are an example of how all of us Caregivers can create a better patient experience with a little bit of ingenuity and motivation.
Story: Kory Lanphear
Photo: Bob Slocum