Introduction: What is Patient- and Family-Centered Care?

This report covers the activities of Suburban Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Committee (PFAC) during the 2020 Fiscal Year, which ran from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the Bethesda community in mid-March. As a result, certain activities, such as our PFAC Leadership Awards, were delayed until after the end of FY 2020. Some of these delayed activities are included in this report.

The PFAC is comprised of volunteer members, called Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs), hospital clinical and administrative staff and executives (Download the list of 2020 Patient and Family Advisory Council Members and Staff Advisors). The PFAs also participate in more than 40 Suburban councils, committees and workgroups. This widespread participation by PFAs provides the patient and family perspective. The work of PFAs can range from testing day beds to be installed in new patient rooms to reviewing the text of patient handbooks to ensure that they are understandable and contain all the needed information.

The PFAC also works closely with the Community Health and Wellness department, whose mission is to be a bridge between the community and the hospital. We are proud to have at least one member of the Community Health and Wellness team attend every PFAC meeting.

Any community member interested in the work of the PFAC is encouraged to contact us. We welcome all views and input at [email protected].


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A Letter from LeighAnn Sidone & Stephen Bokat

“The PFAC’s dedicated team of volunteers and professionals spent thousands of hours during the last year to make sure the patient and family voice was heard on every aspect of hospital operations. It is only through this partnership that we can ensure Suburban provides the best patient- and family-centered care…”

LeighAnn and Steve