Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is having a baby!

The hospital is creating a new Pediatric Patient & Family Advisory Council that will focus on maternal and pediatric health issues and facilitate patient and family member participation in hospital care and decision-making in these areas.

The new “Baby PFAC” was spearheaded by Dr. Margaret “Mimi” Koehm and Brenda Johnson, RN-BC, the hospital’s director of compliance and patient and family centered care, and chair of the original PFAC. It will complement the existing PFAC while focusing solely on Nantucket’s children and families, as well as community outreach.

”We are so excited to begin our journey for creating a PFAC dedicated to maternal and pediatric issues both in the hospital and in our community ,” Johnson said. “I look forward to bringing the voices of patients, families and staff together to make NCH even better.”

With perspective, support and collaboration from patients, families and the community, the current Patient and Family Advisory Council at NCH has enjoyed great success since it was launched in 2010. The PFAC contributes to policy and program development and ensures that patient- and family-centered care remains a primary focus in the organization. Emphasis is given to the core concepts of patient- and family-centered care: dignity and respect, information sharing, participation and active collaboration. The new group will bring this same focus to Nantucket’s pediatric population and families.

The initial members of the new Pediatric Patient & Family Advisory Council include:

• Sunny Daily
• Whitnie Barrett
• Betsey Brooks
• Kathleen Minihan
• Jennie Cook
• Tracy Roberts
• Kristen Congdon
• Catherine Kinsella
• Allyson McConnell Mitchell
• Anne Shure
• Penny Kirk
• Jessica Douglas
• Mimi Koehm, MD
• Fred Mandell, MD
• Leif Norenberg, MD

Are you interested in participating or joining the new Baby PFAC? Contact Brenda Johnson at bjohnson17@partners.org