Company Bio
At Quinte Health, our four hospitals unite under the core values of Imagine It’s You, Value Everyone, We All Make a Difference, and Stronger Together. We work as one team to enhance lives, improve access to high-quality care, and build healthier communities—right where people need it most.
Quinte Health’s four hospitals are the heart of our communities, delivering exceptional care close to home. As one unified team, we’re passionate about improving lives and expanding access to high-quality healthcare. Our staff, physicians, and volunteers don’t just work here—we live, grow, and thrive here. If you’re compassionate and driven, we have exciting opportunities across our hospitals. Join us and make a real impact!
Position Summary
The Patient Experience Specialist, working collaboratively with the Director, provides support to programs & departments to ensure that the patient & family experience is aligned with Quinte Health’s mission to create healthy communities together. The Patient Experience Specialist primarily oversees the Patient Experience Office functions and supports the organization’s alignment to patient-centered care. With this focus on the patient & family experience, the Patient Experience Specialist contributes to identifying quality improvement opportunities and building internal capacity to enhance the patient experience and care outcomes through strong engagement with staff, physicians and volunteers.
The mandate of this role is achieved through the development, implementation and planning of key patient experience and patient safety strategies including the collection of patient experience data, resolution of concerns, staff education & engagement, policy development, applying a person/family-centered perspective to care delivery processes and monitoring performance in relation to the patient experience, patient safety and Accreditation Canada.
The Patient Experience Specialist will also work closely with the Manager of Patient Safety, Experience and Clinical Risk in the role of patient representative in Quality Reviews, supporting legal claim management, advising on organizational risk issues, providing input to enterprise risk management, as well as serving as a key support for Program/Department, Organizational or Board-based quality reporting.
The Patient Experience Specialist demonstrates Quinte Health values and supports the organization’s aspirations.
This position is scheduled for 7.5-hour shifts, four (4) days per week. Scheduled hours, shift lengths, and the number of shifts are subject to change in accordance with operational requirements. Access to reliable transportation to travel between sites.
Required
- Minimum 5 years work experience in a health care setting;
- Graduate of a health care profession, health administration program, or related discipline with a completed Baccalaureate
- Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience;
- Experience with patient relations management;
- Experience in the areas of patient safety, quality improvement and risk management;
- Experience with project management;
- Proficiency in MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel;
- Familiarity with database management;
- Must be able to work independently, with minimal supervision;
- Demonstrated success in establishing, leading and maintaining positive change;
- Skilled in conflict management and resolution;
- Established competence in managing multiple complex issues;
- Superior critical thinking skills and ability to generate ideas, fresh perspectives; and
- Possess excellent written, presentation and communication skills.
Duties
- Models the values and attributes of staff working in a hospital focused on creating an exceptional patient and family experience and ensuring patient safety;
- Serves as Quinte Health’s Patient Relations delegate (as specified by Excellent Care for All Act (ECFAA));
- Familiarity with legislation & regulations, including ECFAA, Public Hospitals Act, Health Care Consent Act, Substitute Decision Act, Mental Health Act, Privacy of Health Information Act, Quality of Care Information Protection Act;
- Familiarity with Quinte Health’s Patient Declaration of Values;
- Oversees the mandate and activities of the Patient Experience Office according to Quinte Health policy and ECFAA regulations;
- Facilitates the resolution of patient and family concerns in collaboration with directors, managers, direct care providers, and others as appropriate;
- Coordinates and participates in patient/family meetings to facilitate resolution, clarification of issues and/or information as required;
- Serves as Quinte Health’s primary contact for Patient Ombudsmen investigations and coordinates organizational response and takes action to plan & implement identified improvements;
- Mediates and negotiates mutually satisfactory resolutions to issues and concerns between patients/families, direct care teams and the hospital;
- Shares patient and family compliments and ideas for improvement with directors, managers, direct care teams and others as appropriate, as well as supports implementation of improvement ideas;
- Supports physician and staff recognition related to enhancing patient experience;
- Supports the development, implementation and monitoring of Quinte Health’s patient and family engagement strategy, specifically related to patient relations policy;
- Working with the Communications Department, provide consultation on the development of patient information mediums such as pamphlets, education booklets;
- Oversees the development and monitoring of patient experience survey tools (e.g., longitudinal surveys, internal real-time surveys, other means);
- Creates reports of patient relations and patient experience performance (such as patient and family feedback, longitudinal and real-time surveys) to influence practices aimed at improving overall patient experience for the program and organizational level;
- Provides reports of patient experience performance for unit, program, department, organizational and board monitoring and analysis;
• Supports development of policies with the view to enhance the patient and family experience; • Acts as a resource for new initiatives aimed at enhancing the overall patient and family experience;
- Shares patient experience best practices with key stakeholders and by participating in conferences and referencing journals & other publications;
- Fosters a Just Culture across the organization; and
- Monitors the effectiveness of the Patient Relations process and coordinates activities to improve this process based on feedback from patients and families, staff, and physicians. Patient Safety
- Supports a Just Culture and improving the safety of care;
- Collaborates with others to implement provincial and/or national patient safety initiatives at the organizational level (example: required safety practices for Accreditation Canada);
- Works with the Manager of Patient Safety, Experience and Clinical Risk to identify and mitigate patient experience and patient safety issues from medical and legal processes; and
- Provides support for hospital initiatives focused on patient and family experience & patient safety. Quality Improvement
- Analyzes data to monitor and report on performance of patient experience in general or of specific initiatives designed to improve patient experience and take corrective action where necessary;
- Supports the development & monitoring of the annual Quality Improvement Plan;
- Ensure relevant policies, practices and procedures are developed and maintained ensuring quality and compliance to standards and legislative requirements;
- Conduct ongoing review of literature and reports from external sources to ensure emerging patient relations and quality improvement issues are considered and addressed in a proactive manner reflecting evidence based practices; and
- Coaches and delivers training for all physicians and staff on how to improve the patient experience.
Equal Opportunity
We thank all interested candidates for their response, however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted. Quinte Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to meeting needs under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Our Recruitment process follows the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act in order to provide a fair and equitable process for all candidates. Applicants requiring accommodation through the recruitment/interview process are encouraged to contact the Human Resources Department at 613-969-7400 x2577 or [email protected] for assistance.
Physical Demands Analysis
Strength
- Required Rarely – lifting average 5-10 pounds’ maximum 15 pounds, carrying, pushing/pulling
Mobility
- Required Often – prolonged sitting
- Required Occasionally – standing and walking on hard surfaces, bending/stooping
Dexterity
- Required Often – prolonged fine finger movements
- Required Frequently – gripping/grasping, eye/hand coordination
- Required Briefly – reaching with both hands
