Patient Safety & Quality

Meeting the Highest Standards for Our Patients

Good Samaritan has an established concern and grievance resolution process.

If You Have a Concern or Complaint While Your Loved One Is Here at the Hospital, Please Notify One of the Following Individuals:

• The department manager or director
• The patient advocate
• Hospital administration

A concern is defined as a verbal or written expression of dissatisfaction with service/experience at Good Samaritan by a patient, family member or visitor that can be resolved within 24 hours. When possible, your concerns will be resolved within 24 hours. When your concerns cannot be resolved within 24 hours, they become grievances.

A grievance is defined as a concern/complaint that cannot be resolved promptly to the concerned party’s satisfaction.

If you express a grievance, you will receive communication regarding it within three days of receipt.

Most expressions of grievance will be resolved within seven days. A letter of explanation related to your grievance will be sent once the investigation is complete.

Unresolved grievances will be referred to our patient grievance committee, which consists of individuals involved in the care related to the particular grievance.

It is always the intent of Good Samaritan to be transparent relative to the care that you and/or your loved ones receive. We know that we cannot improve if we do not communicate with you.

Patient Safety/Quality

Good Samaritan provides a systematic-based approach to patient safety. This approach acknowledges that most health-care errors are not caused by individuals but rather by breakdowns in systems or processes.

Because Patient Safety and Quality Are the Highest Priorities at Good Samaritan, We Are Committed to Improving Processes in a Number of Ways, Including:

• Working together in teams, such as the Medication Safety Improvement Team and the Fall Prevention Team.
• Using high-end technology such as Alaris intravenous infusion pumps, pharmacy robot and bar coding for accurate medication administration.
• Using state-of-the-art equipment including patient lifting and transfer devices.
• Continuous staff education.
• Standardization and improvement of processes.
• Exhibiting behaviors consistent with the provision of safe care:
  • Paying attention to detail
  • Demonstrating accountability
  • Communicating
  • Displaying a questioning attitude

Good Samaritan encourages patients to participate in their own care and the care of their loved ones. We encourage you to ask questions about the care that you or your loved ones are receiving. We expect our staff members to provide you and/or your loved ones with the highest quality and safest care possible. The patient safety role-model award is given in recognition of staff members who consistently serve as role models to others.

Patient Safety Concerns Can Be Reported to the Joint Commission:

• At www.jointcommission.org, using the “Report a Patient Safety Event” link in the “Action Center” on the home page of the website
• By fax to 630-792-5636
• By mail to Office of Quality and Patient Safety, The Joint Commission, One Renaissance Boulevard, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181