Enhancing the Patient Experience - Before They Even Arrive
Apr 27, 2026 | Faces of HDGH, Road to Recovery – Restorative Rehabilitative Care
Patient Experience Week is a global celebration that takes place annually in April. It is a time to celebrate and honour the impact healthcare employees, volunteers, and each interaction a patient, client, and their family has when receiving care. Our April blog, written by our Director of Rehabilitation and Restorative Care and Patient Transitions, Sarah Picco, highlights the recent ways our organization is aiming to enhance the patient experience at HDGH.
Transitions in care can be a very stressful and worrisome time for a patient and their loved ones, especially when they feel unprepared or have many questions.
At Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH), we know that a positive patient experience begins well before someone walks through our doors. Over the last year our teams have been looking at a variety of ways to support our new patients and families prior to arrival to our campus.
Transitions Team
One key area identified for improvement through surveys, feedback, and our Quality Improvement Plan was the transition from acute care to HDGH. Patients and families consistently shared that they would benefit from more information up front. In response, HDGH’s Transitions Team introduced pre-admission welcome phone calls to explain what to expect based on the program they’d be entering within Restorative Care. Items such as where to locate us, where to park, how to get to the unit, and what to be prepared for such as non-slip shoes and clothes. This also gives the patient and/or family the ability to ask questions and receive reassurance.
Since launching this initiative in February 2026, 210 calls have been placed. This quality initiative has made a positive impact on our patient and families and has shown them that they are truly at the centre of our care.
Welcome Video
We’ve also expanded these efforts through the launch of the HDGH Welcome Video, a nine-minute introduction to life at our hospital. Featuring familiar faces from across the organization, the video offers an overview of care, daily routines, parking information, and available support services. Available on our website, YouTube channel, bedside TVs, and shared during pre-admission welcome calls, the video enhances the patient experience even before arrival.
The video is offered in
English, with four additional videos in production that will provide subtitles in some of the most spoken languages of our region:
Arabic,
Italian,
Spanish, and
French.
Patient & Family Advisory Council
The Patient and Family Advisory Council, or PFAC, at HDGH has been a long-standing resource that significantly contributes to the patient and client experience at our organization. PFAC engages Advisors – either former patients or family members – with lived experience in any of our adult programs at HDGH. These individuals have a drive to improve the quality of our hospital’s care for all patients, families, and caregivers.
Today, PFAC has expanded greatly with Advisor voices heard at nearly every committee, on the HDGH Board of Directors, during program changes, and with any new patient-facing materials.
Healthcare Team & Patient Advocate
Finally, as our entire organization celebrates Patient Experience Week, we’re reminded that no matter our role, each of us contributes to how patients, clients, and families feel at HDGH. Whether providing clinical care, delivering meals, keeping spaces clean, answering phones, offering directions, or sharing a smile in the hallway—every interaction matters.
Patients and their families we encouraged to share about their experience at HDGH through our web form or by contacting our Patient Advocate who is eager to walk alongside you during your time at HDGH.
Thank you to all our staff, physicians, volunteers, PFAC members, Board, and leadership for your ongoing commitment to creating an environment where patients feel informed, cared for, and supported. Together, we are making a difference, one experience at a time.
Sarah Picco is the Director of Rehabilitation and Restorative Care and Patient Transitions at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Masters of Nursing, and is Canadian Gerontological Nurse Certified. She started her career at HDGH as a frontline nurse in 2007. Through her dedication to her patients and organization, and strong leadership skills, Sarah advanced her career in many leadership roles, holding her Director title for the past six years.