White Memorial Medical Center Joins the Planetree Family of Medical Centers

May 15, 2012 - PRLog -- News Release

Media Contact: Alicia Gonzalez (818) 800-3113
gonzala1@ah.org

White Memorial Medical Center Joins the Planetree Family of Medical Centers

LOS ANGELES, CA -- May 15, 2012 -- White Memorial Medical Center is proud to announce their participation in the Planetree model of medical centers, a coalition of hospitals worldwide that are committed to improving medical care from the patient's perspective.  Planetree's approach is holistic and encourages healing in all dimensions - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social.

Since its founding in 1978 as a non-profit organization, Planetree has continued to be a pioneer in personalizing, humanizing and demystifying the health care experience for patients and their families. Founded by a patient, the Planetree Model is committed to enhancing health care from the patient's perspective, otherwise known as "patient-centered care." It empowers patients and families through information and education, and encourages "healing partnerships" with caregivers to support active participation.

Through organizational transformation, the Planetree Model assists hospitals in the creation of healing environments in which patients can be active participants and caregivers are enabled to thrive.

White Memorial Medical Center explored Planetree by visiting Planetree facilities for the past 10 years. Planetree, or patient-centered care, is not new to White Memorial Medical Center. Planetree is a nationally recognized model on which the hospital's new Specialty Care Tower was designed. The Lift Program, Just Culture, Guest Services, AIDET, Employee Wellness and "Everyone is a Caregiver!" are just a few examples of initiatives that have been put in place at White Memorial Medical Center to enhance the patient, staff and physician experiences and fit under the patient-centered care umbrella.

After a three-day train-the-trainer course in early March, the hospital now has 26 Planetree facilitators equipped with all of the right tools to each train 500 employees through the year. Over the next two years, all of the staff at White Memorial Medical Center will be trained in Planetree concepts. The first Planetree Retreat took place on last month April 9, where the facilitators trained 20 employees. The overall evaluation of the retreat was exceptional.

On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest, 84% rated the retreat experience a 5 with the remaining 16% rating the retreat a 4! Attendees appreciated the opportunity to get to know each other and share personal experiences. They enjoyed learning feedback techniques when dealing with patients and how they can, regardless of their role, make a difference in the patient-centered care experience. Retreats will continue throughout the year.

For more information about the about Planetree, visit www.plantree.org