PARTNERING WITH PATIENTS AND FAMILIES

April 16, 2014

“It’s like a friendly train depot. People stop here on their way in life and take time to understand their journey, to talk about why they are here and how to find the right way home.” says Wayne Saltsman, MD, Medical Director of Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, our newest Community Partner.

Adults arrive at Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (Woburn Center) for short-term rehabilitative care after surgery or illness, or for long-term skilled nursing care. They often arrive with family members, or friends and caregivers who are “family”, wanting to be a part of the journey.

The staff works in partnership with patients and family members to listen to their stories and learn from their perspective, not only for the best possible patient care, but to be responsive to the needs of each family. “It gives everyone great peace of mind and enables us to provide quality compassionate care”, says Cheryl Evangelista, RN BSN, NHA, Executive Directive. In partnering with Honoring Choices, the Woburn Center is enhancing the way it provides care. “We’ve dedicated an experienced nurse to champion health care planning and place it at the forefront of patient-and family-centered care.”

Pam Gelardi, RN, who leads the health care planning initiative, is also a Certified Health Care Planning Facilitator. Ms. Gelardi recently completed Certified Facilitator training with Honoring Choices, which enables her to offer patients and families in-depth and ongoing discussions to fully understand a patient’s medical condition and care options, and help patients revise and update their health care plan. “Our patients often need to review their choices and treatment options when making their health care plan. They don’t always know that the tools used to communicate their choices can be changed overtime. We help a person review their individual plan to understand what’s right for that person.” says Ms. Gelardi.

We welcome Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center to the growing network of Honoring Choices Community Partners in the area. Dr. Saltsman,who helped us make the connection to the Woburn Center, is also the Section Chief of Geriatric Transitional Care affiliated at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, also an Honoring Choices Community Partner. Working together, Lahey Health and Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center can strengthen the network of person-and family-centered care in their community.