Patient Advisory Council
MedStar Harbor Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Council for Quality and Safety (PFACQS) was formed in August 2014 to bring together patients, family members, and healthcare professionals with the goal of providing the safest and highest quality care to our community.
At MedStar Harbor, we are honored to serve and care for you and your loved ones. Your feedback helps us do our best to meet your needs and the needs of other members of our community.
Our goal is a council that embodies partnership and open communication about what works well for you and what could work better.
The PFACQS reflects the diverse patient populations we serve—diversity in terms of income level, racial and ethnic makeup, health status, and religion, to name a few. The council is composed of patients, family members or friends of patients, and community leaders, as well as healthcare professionals from MedStar Health.
The council meets monthly, every third Wednesday, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Baum Auditorium. Dinner is served, and parking is free. We encourage you to consider submitting an application to join us in a partnership for patient safety and quality.
The issues that are important to you are important to us.
Click here to complete your application and email it to: Chris.Roberge@MedStar.net
or mail it back to:
MedStar Harbor Hospital
Attn: Chris Roberge
3001 South Hanover St.
Baltimore, MD 21225
Explore the MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety
Disability assistance
MedStar Harbor Hospital is committed to ensuring that all patients are able to enjoy full and equal access to all of our facilities, services, and equipment, regardless of disability.
The following are services and accommodations available to MedStar Harbor Hospital patients and guests:
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Language Interpreters
This hospital maintains a language bank of employees who speak many languages, and subscribes to Language Line, a service that provides immediate telephone access to interpreters of most languages. Talk charts also are available in English, Korean, and Spanish for those who are unable to speak. -
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
MedStar Harbor Hospital provides certified sign language interpreters for patients and visitors who are deaf and hard of hearing. Amplification devices also are available for the deaf and hard of hearing. Please inform your nurse if you or your visitors require the assistance of an interpreter or hearing device. -
Special Needs
If you or your visitors have any special need that requires attention, please contact your nurse, and appropriate accommodations will be made when possible.
How can you obtain disability-related assistance from MedStar Harbor Hospital?
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Inform the person scheduling your appointment at MedStar Harbor Hospital of your special needs when scheduling an inpatient or outpatient visit.
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Remind the admissions personnel or receptionist of such need upon your arrival to MedStar Harbor Hospital for your scheduled visit.
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Consult with your nurse, doctor, or other care provider about your disability-related needs.
Advance directives
Advance care directives are specific instructions, prepared in advance, that are intended to direct a person's medical care if he or she becomes unable to do so in the future.
Advance care directives allow patients to make their own decisions regarding the care they would prefer to receive if they develop a terminal illness or a life-threatening injury. Advance care directives can also designate someone the patient trusts to make decisions about medical care if the patient becomes unable to make (or communicate) these decisions.
Advance care directives can reduce:
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Personal worry
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Futile, costly, specialized interventions that a patient may not want
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Overall healthcare costs
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Feelings of helplessness and guilt for family
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Legal concerns for everyone involved
Download this brochure for more information about Living Will and Advance Directives