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Innovative new program at University of Missouri Health Care focuses on hospitality services No one enjoys being in the hospital, but an innovative new program at University of Missouri Health Care is designed to make the patient experience as comfortable as possible. University Hospital began placing hospitality coordinators on every inpatient floor in October 2007. On March 25, the program was expanded to Columbia Regional Hospital. The coordinators make daily rounds on patients, checking to see if they have any needs or concerns. Coordinators handle non-clinical types of tasks such as bringing a patient a newspaper to read, escorting discharged patients to their vehicles or summoning maintenance staff to fix a broken TV. Pete Goodman, supervisor of hospitality and patient support services, said the purpose of the coordinators is two-fold. By assisting employees and patients, they work to make the environment pleasant for everyone in the hospital. “We have the double duty of heightening patient satisfaction and staff satisfaction,” said Goodman. “Hospitality coordinators try to take some of the workload off nursing staff for non-clinical needs of patients.” Hospitality coordinators assist patients by orienting them to the hospital, explaining hospital services and rounding on them hourly to make sure their needs are being met. “We have several roles,” said Tisha Flatt, a hospitality coordinator in Ellis Fischel Cancer Center’s inpatient unit at University Hospital. “It’s to be there for the patient as a friend, but then also to be there getting everything they need throughout the day. There are days when I walk into a patient’s room and I sit down and talk with them for 20 or 30 minutes on a friend-basis. And then there are some patients who just want me to get them the things that they need, and this is satisfying to them.” When patients need a hospitality coordinator, they are able to make a request by calling the number listed on a sticker located on their room telephones, as well as on house phones throughout the hospitals. The number is directed to a concierge, who radios the coordinator with the request. The goal of each coordinator is to answer each request as quickly and as efficiently as possible. To reduce hospital noise, each coordinator wears an earpiece connected to his or her radio. “Hospitality coordinators handle many routine duties that previously have been the responsibility of nurses,” said Ted Brandt, assistant manager of hospitality and patient support services at University Hospital. “The coordinators will notify maintenance staff if a patient’s room has a faulty light or thermostat, call housekeeping to clean up a spill or work with food services to ensure a patient’s meal is exactly what was ordered.” “The patients love them,” said Dale Cramer, R.N., clinical charge nurse at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center’s inpatient unit at University Hospital. “The role that they play is a lot of direct, non-clinical patient care, and it means that the patients get their needs met more efficiently and quickly. The hospitality people that I’ve had the pleasure to work with are all very bright, positive, articulate people and very caring. So the patients like to see them come into the room and just visit with them for a while sometimes.” Hospitality coordinators complete six weeks of training before beginning work on patient floors. The coordinators are on duty throughout University Hospital from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, and at Columbia Regional Hospital from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. Additionally, Hospitality Services also offers a 24-hour hospitality phone line for patients, visitors or staff to call with questions or requests related to hospitality services.
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