Why the patient experience matters

Patient experience is the heart of all we do. In addition to delivering top-notch care, our team wants to ensure patients feel respected, heard, comfortable, and supported. Throughout a patient's stay with us, it is our goal to meet their needs with compassion and understanding. Whether it's the temperature of their room, the linens on their bed, the food on their tray, the communication with their healthcare providers—we are working to ensure that every patient has such a good experience at our hospital, they can't wait to tell their family and friends. It's how we treat people.

We want our patients to trust they are being cared for in a modern, state-of-the-art facility. The appearance of our hospital goes a long way toward conveying a feeling of confidence. During the past several years we have worked to replace flooring on our patient units, completely renovated our dining area, modernized rooms in our Women's Health & Family Birthing Center, and upgraded linens for increased comfort.

We still have more work to do.

Funds raised from this year’s Gala will be used to replace the couches in our Telemetry inpatient unit with newer sleeper sofas.

Anyone who has spent time in a hospital room with a loved one, knows how important it is to be able to rest. It is our goal to provide a welcoming space in which families and caregivers can watch over their loved ones as they recover. Updating these couches is an important component of our work to upgrade our facility.

More than just a place to sit.

The couches in our patient rooms are not your average living room furniture.

• The fabric and cushions are designed to be durable and withstand regular cleaning and extensive use while remaining comfortable.
• Designed to accommodate the needs of our visitors, the couches are multi-functional and feature built-in eating trays and a comfortable sleeping option. The added amenities translate to a much higher cost than you would expect to pay for an average living room couch.

The added amenities translate to a much higher cost than you would expect to pat for an average living room couch. 

Contribute to the replacement of our inpatient unit couches with newer sleeper sofas. 

In 2020, six local students received scholarships to help them pursue their dreams of a career in health care. Funds raised from previous Galas have supported MedStar St. Mary's Hospital's scholarship program. In exchange for the significant financial support, recipients agree to return to our hospital to work for a predetermined length of time following graduation.

“Throughout the COVID-19 emergency, it’s more apparent than ever that supporting healthcare workers and ensuring the future of quality local healthcare at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital is so important for our community hospital,” said Lea Weaver, chair of the 2020 scholarship committee.

The healthcare industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and our hospital is no exception. Operating rooms, doctors’ appointments, and imaging services were all shut down for several months as the pandemic progressed. These services provide revenue for our hospital; loss of this revenue greatly impacted funds allocated for capital improvement projects. Replacing and upgrading costly medical equipment is the top priority each year and oftentimes there is little room left in the capital budget for patient experience projects.

Help us provide the best for our patients, their families, and our community.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit our area, MedStar St. Mary's Hospital responded immediately. As cases spread, our staff and physicians went into action—from expanding our intensive care capacity, to increasing our ventilator supplies, to developing and implementing new clinical guidelines and treatments. Recognizing the need for testing, we were the first facility in the region to offer drive-thru testing. As a system, we made sure care did not stop by quickly rolling out telehealth visits and we developed plans to fully reopen.

How we are helping our associates.

We realized our employees needed help during this stressful time. MedStar Health established an emergency fund to help associates in financial distress, offered increased mental health services, provided childcare options, offered redeployment opportunities, and Care for the Caregiver programs.

We remained committed to our associates and managed to avoid layoffs many other systems suffered during this time.
Donate Now