Family-centered care at Hopkins Children’s has moved forward in leaps and bounds since the new Patient- and Family-Centered Care initiative was launched in September 2007, Director George Dover noted at the hospital’s Family Advisory Council (FAC) Recognition Dinner June 17.  Citing substantive changes like family rounds, in which families participate in traditional medical rounds with pediatric residents, Dover attributed the progress to the staff and parents who make up the FAC, and particularly former Director of Social Work Loretta Wall, who has led the initiative.

“It’s Loretta’s dedication not only to families and children here, but also to Hopkins and our values,” said Dover. “She has never accepted that we couldn’t be better.”

To illustrate how far Hopkins Children’s has come in family-centered care, Dover shared experiences he had earlier that day with interns, residents, faculty and nurses. Issues that came up since he walked into his office that morning included, among others, the feasibility of direct admissions and how to make the pediatric emergency room more family-oriented for new admissions, critical evaluations of feedback on inpatient and outpatient care from parents through Press Ganey surveys, nurse/patient ratios, and the support of family-centered care at other Hopkins facilities outside of Hopkins Children’s.

“If you had asked me about a typical day for the Children’s Center director two years ago, it’s not likely the words ‘family-centered care’ or issues about family-centered care would have come up often. We called it other things but we never really had a focus and a group driving us to get it done,” Dover said. “Now family-centered care is in the forefront of an unbelievable number of conversations each day, which means it’s more a part of our culture. More and more we’re putting ourselves in the shoes of parents before making decisions.”

Director of Pediatric Nursing Shelley Baranowski agreed, noting that the willingness of parents on the FAC to tell their stories has helped Hopkins Children’s be more transparent, which has enhanced family-centered care: “You’re a diverse group with diverse life experiences, and by sharing your stories here you’re helping other families have a better experience. Thank you for laying such a tremendous foundation, and we look forward to building a better future with all of you.”

Dover and Baranowski were each presented by the FAC with a gift book – Privileged Presence: Personal Stories of Connections in Health Care by Liz Crocker and Bev Johnson (Bull Publishing, 2008) – for their commitment to family-centered care. Also, FAC co-chair and parent advisor Pamela Griffin presented an award of excellence to Wall from the FAC, citing her “exemplary leadership, dedication and wisdom, which have been outstanding assets for each step of our journey towards patient- and family-centered care.” Griffin added that her experience working with Wall reminded her of a saying by Abraham Lincoln: “’Determine the thing that is to be done, and then we will find the way.’ Thank you Loretta for helping us find the way.”