TO THE EDITOR:

Wills Memorial Hospital is making strides in meeting health care needs and expectations of our community by providing quality services in a caring and supportive environment. What patients think about the services they receive at Wills Memorial Hospital is critical in meeting our goal of providing quality health care.

As baby-boomers approach the age group when quality medical care is becoming a necessity, we are also in the midst of the most severe nursing shortage in decades. Nationally, one out of every 10 hospital nursing positions is vacant this year and burnout is among the high-ranking reasons for this devastating and costly surge of nurse turnover. While some hospitals are playing the bidding war and recruiting from agencies for temporary nurses, others are trying to increase employee retention and revamp their reputation for being a high quality community hospital. Such a hospital is Wills Memorial Hospital. We are reinventing the hospital by putting our patients and staff first, and as a result, everything from patient satisfaction to staff satisfaction is improving.

We depend on you, the patient, to help improve our services. The statement "for better patient services is to understand your patient" is the principal we are trying to instill into our staff. Our entire organization must be in such a frame of mind when providing care for our patients. The responsibility of providing quality care and a pleasant environment for our patients, not only falls on the shoulders of the clinical team, but all WMH employees. It is vital that we have the tools available to assess patient satisfaction with care provided in all areas of the hospital. To better understand how and the patient perceives our organization and to identify where improvement is indicated, a "Patient Satisfaction Survey" is used. This tool is key to improving services.

To collect accurate patient satisfaction information, asking the right questions is essential. Tabulating and trending responses permits an objective analysis and identifies areas where improvement is needed.

Another valuable process is customer complaint management. Effective information systems identify concerns or complaints as soon as they are revealed and enable problem resolution in a timely manner. Understanding our patient and believing

that they are of the utmost importance goes a long way towards organizational success. Ultimately the satisfaction of our patients is our core business asset. Here at Wills Memorial Hospital, we strive for "The Right Care for Every Person Every Time." We ask that you help by participating in our Patient Satisfaction Survey and returning it to us so we can better achieve our goal of excellent health care for our community.

PAT NEIMANN