Mission St. Joseph’s responds

We at Mission St. Joseph’s would like to thank Mr. Siegel for taking the time to share his unpleasant experience at the Emergency Department. We take pride in the quality of care we deliver, and it concerns us greatly when any patient or family member has an unpleasant experience. His comments about our services are some of the best ways we have of learning how we can improve.

The Emergency Department recognizes that we do have areas for improvement. To address them, we have formed a staff-driven work team: the “Best Practice Team.” We are re-examining the way we are perceived by our patients, and are developing processes to address concerns. These processes are based on our Mission St. Joseph’s core values: mercy, excellence, respect, integrity and trust.

We are working hard to remember to inform patients and families that their stay may be longer than expected because of waiting on lab or X-ray results, waiting on medical specialists, or waiting for in-patient beds to become available. We are trying to consistently let people know that the sickest and most seriously injured patients are seen first, so it is not always first-come, first-served.

Again, we appreciate Mr. Siegel taking the time to inform us of his experience. I will be taking his letter to the staff meetings to discuss his concerns.

[Molly Minnick is the nursing-unit director for Mission St. Joseph’sEmergency Departments.]