" Back to Basics "

Dear Colleagues,

I encourage all employees to participate in the 2022 Patient Experience (PX) Week activities from April 25- May 1, 2022. This year’s theme is “Making the Difference”. North Florida/ South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SGVHS) is devoted to recognizing the importance of the patients experience in all our daily activities, to honor those who served and support our Veterans, family members, and caregivers, with the highest degree of professionalism and ICARE Values. The NF/SGVHS Leadership Team is dedicated and focused on improving the overall Veteran experiences and all staff are expected to assist Veterans by providing excellent Veteran/Patient Center health care. Over the course of this week, I will send out daily Mr. Isaacks’ Insider?to include a daily theme and?to discuss our way forward in improving the Veterans Experience.

As VA Employees, please celebrate our Veterans, thanking them for their service and for choosing our VA for their health care. Our focus will include building trust, one interaction at a time. To meet these efforts, we are excited to announce our Wheelchair Round-Up event and the relaunch of our Green Glove Program during PX Week. Facility cleanliness and safety are examples of what I consider to be simple, yet fundamental elements?of the Veteran?Experience which is why have appropriately themed Day 1 of Px Week?“Back to Basics”?

Wheelchair Round Up

The Veteran Experience Office will conduct a “Wheelchair Round -Up” event that will run for the entire month of May with the goal of having wheelchairs readily available for Veterans who require use during visits to our Gainesville and Lake City facilities.?Wheelchair “Corral Stations” will be designated throughout our hospital to allow Veterans and visitors to return chairs to a closer location. Volunteers, Ambassadors and Escort Services staff will return chairs from corral stations to appropriate staging locations throughout the day. Employees can participate in our Wheelchair Round up by doing the following:

• Return wheelchairs from their designated work areas to designated corral stations.
• Return wheelchairs from outside the facility (i.e. parking lots) to designated corral stations.
• Contact Escort Service for patients that require wheelchair or escort assistance (Gainesville - ext. 10-6674 or Lake City - ext. 39-2319)
• Remove and report any inoperable and unserviceable wheelchairs to Escort Service.

Green Glove Initiative

The Green Gloves Program encourages employees, patients, family members and all visitors to feel a sense of ownership and pride for their facility and serves as a reminder that we ALL can play a part in keeping the atmosphere of our facility clean and welcoming. Green Gloves stations will be located throughout our facilities to allow a readily available method to keep each of our immediate areas clean. Green Glove stations will be deployed in the coming months to outpatient clinics that currently do not have them. I ask that all employees be mindful of the following:

• Utilize green gloves located throughout the facilities to pick up trash or out of place items as you conduct normal daily work.
• Pay close attention to your designated work area. Too often we get accustomed to seeing a stained ceiling tile, stains on the floor, or dusty sprinkler overhead in our own spaces.?Look over your area like you would for the first time and report issues. If you notice it, then our patients notice it.
• Don’t assume "someone else is going to pick up an item that’s out of place ".?It’s up to each of us to ACT and walking past any issue that needs attention only reinforces the negative.
• Share what we are doing with patients. When they ask why the green glove? Or what the program’s purpose is, share our story to let them know we are trying to make their experience while on site exceptional.

These initiatives support our journey to be a high reliability organization. By continually working to enhance our environment of care will assist us in achieving Zero Harm to our patients. I want to say thank you to all our staff who care for American’s Heroes and continue to support the VA mission. Together we are making a difference in our Veterans’ lives, with each individual act of Service Excellence.

DAVID ISAACKS, FACHE

Executive Health System Director

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