Patient-centered care at Planetree: It sounds like the ocean

This is Part 2 of Debi Janway’s story about her mother’s care at Planetree. You can read Part 1 here.

It was a home-like feeling. I was here late in the evening, and my family would come. The waiting room in MedSurg is home-like, with round tables to eat at and relax with nice chairs, on the same floor as my Mom. So you know if the doctor or nurse wants to see you, you’re right there. You can heat up your own food in the kitchen that’s right there. If your family member is allowed to eat the same food while she’s in the hospital that she eats at home, you can cook that food for them.

They did aromatherapy. Mom absolutely loved the lavender they’d put in her room, it was so soothing. It was very quiet. You could hear a pin drop. No one just entered the room; they always knocked first, and asked, Would it be all right to come in? The lab techs would ask, Is this a good time to come in? It wasn’t intrusive. They’d ask, Is there anything else I can do for you? My Mom might say, Yeah, I’d like some more ice water. The lab tech or whoever would get her what she needed. As a Care Partner, we could do that too.

I feel very blessed. Mom is back at home now.

Hospital CEO Susan Stone adds:

We have a program, Lights Out Lavender. We’ll do a back massage for the patient, and ask if they’re ready for bed. Our staff round every hour.

We worked hard to make it quiet at night. For example, we have reminders to make sure the environment is quiet. We did an assessment and realized that the Housekeeping carts were too squeaky. The doors for the patient laundry used to click shut really loudly, so we’ve changed those. Also, we use soothing sound machines if patients like them, to create white noise, which can sound like rain, or the ocean.

Ken’s comment: The healing environment creates tangible results. Patients have high satisfaction, as do physicians and other staff. The environment seems to quicken healing, as patients’ length of stay is significantly shorter than in a comparison unit, according to “A Retrospective Evaluation of the Impact of the Planetree Patient-Centered Model of Care on Inpatient Quality Outcomes," abstracted here. Even so, the hospital has been profitable since 2010, perhaps because so many have heard about the spa-like hospital.

Thanks to Dr. Susan Stone and Debi Janway for sharing their story.