Most hospitals have designated problem solvers on staff, but many people don’t know how to find them.
Hospitals are tough to navigate during normal times, and they’ve become even more complicated during the coronavirus pandemic.
I learned this first hand in January when my father and stepmother were both hospitalized in McKinney, Texas. My stepmother, Lynda, was dying of Covid-19 and in hospice care. Then my father was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. My biggest fear was that my dad wouldn’t be able to spend time with his wife during her final hours.
I was far away in upstate New York. Covid rules were keeping visitors away. I needed help.
So I called the hospital switchboard and asked if there was a patient advocate or hospital social worker. “Yes,” the operator said. “His name is Mark.”
Within seconds I was connected with Mark Lisonbee, whose official title is director of patient experience at Medical City McKinney hospital. I explained the problem and Mr. Lisonbee, a registered nurse, understood immediately. He had been in the emergency room that day and remembered my father. He promised he would try to help.
Soon, he called back with news of a small miracle. He had managed to get my father and his wife in the same room. As a result, my dad was able to spend several hours with his wife, who died later that evening.
Most hospitals have patient advocates whose work involves solving the various nonmedical and logistical challenges patients and their families often experience in the hospital. Mr. Lisonbee says many of the calls he receives involve issues around communication, plans for care or visitation concerns. Sometimes patients’ families “just feel like they need more information or clarification around parts of their care,” he told me. “I try to step in and help to resolve any gaps in communication and make sure we’re being thorough.”
Some requests involve a parent wanting to stay overnight with a child, or special accommodations for patients who want to see their children. Sometimes families have asked if pets can visit, or patients have needed help arranging care for pets left at home.
End of life issues are also common. In one case, a husband and wife were in different hospitals in McKinney and Plano, which are about 15 miles apart. Mr. Lisonbee found a way to temporarily transfer one of them. “They got to be together in the spouse’s final hours,” he said.
Many requests involve happy events. Mr. Lisonbee and his colleagues have also been asked to help a patient virtually attend his daughter’s wedding, organize a school graduation ceremony, plan surprise birthday parties and coordinate weddings for patients.
Hospital patient advocates can’t solve every problem, and ultimately they are employed by the hospital, so major hospital disputes or billing issues may require legal advice or help from independent patient advocates. The AdvoConnection directory can help you find an independent advocate, although the cost, ranging from $100 to $400 an hour, can be prohibitive.
My family is incredibly grateful to Mr. Lisonbee for his help during a difficult time. But I was also fortunate that I knew how to ask for help. When I shared the story with several friends, they all said they wouldn’t have known where to start or who to ask for. The title may vary — it could be patient advocate, patient representative or social worker. If you have trouble identifying the right person, you can call the hospital operator as I did, or try asking a nurse, a receptionist or even the hospital chaplain to help you find the staff member who can help you solve your problem.
“If we identify a need, whether it’s communication or visitation or some other issue, we want to try to help to do the right thing,” Mr. Lisonbee said.
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