Partnering With Patients & Families

The Maine Medical Center Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is a partnership of patients, families and care team members dedicated to improving hospital programs, policies, planning and processes. The PFAC collaborates with providers and leadership to champion patient safety and ensure that patients and family expectations are met. Our work includes:

• Staff Presentations: Monthly council meetings include presentations from hospital care team members, designed to give council members an understanding of the broad scope of hospital activities.
• Review and Feedback: Monthly meetings also include requests from hospital care team member for council review and feedback on specific topics which affect patient safety, care and experience. 
• Hospital Committees: Council members participate in other hospital committees, including: service lines, patient safety, patient experience, performance improvement, infection prevention and the end-of-life care.
• Additional Volunteer Activities: Council members are involved in additional hospital volunteer activities - working directly with patients, families and staff, including the Ambassador Program, the Information Desks, interviewing prospective physicians and special projects.
• Individual Expertise: Hospital leadership periodically requests one or more council members to serve in an advisory capacity for specific situations involving patient grievances or situations where decisions will directly affect patient care and/or experience.

Council members spend five - 20 hours per month involved in hospital activities. The mutual respect and trust between Council members and hospital care teams creates a bond that is helpful in sustaining open patient-provider communication. Examples of our collaborative work include:

• Review of the hospital’s progress in improving adult inpatient medicine’s discharge plan to reduce readmissions
• Follow-up to the Council’s efforts to improve the waiting room accommodations for the ambulatory surgery unit
• Sounding board for hospital initiatives to raise performance improvement scores in communication, quietness and responsiveness

Maine Medical Center is committed to putting patients and families first. For more information about the PFAC, or to inquire about becoming a member, please contact Department of Quality and Safety at 207-662-2018.