Patient Centered Care

A Planetree Patient-Centered Hospital

In June 1992, Mid-Columbia Medical Center became the first hospital in the world to implement the Planetree philosophy of patient-centered care facility wide. In the ensuing years, MCMC was transformed into a one-of-a-kind center of healing, a place very different from what most people expect of a hospital.

While Planetree remains at the heart of the inpatient experience provided at Mid-Columbia Medical Center, its implementation represented only the beginning of what continues to be a remarkable evolutionary process. MCMC is equipped with the latest technologies for diagnosis and healing along with a comprehensive menu of both traditional hospital services and programs, and a broad range of integrated therapies.

It has adopted a far broader definition of health intended to address a person’s emotional, spiritual, intellectual and environmental concerns in addition to physical needs. And, in its ongoing quest to meet its patients’ and their families’ needs around these five components of health, MCMC has evolved in unique and meaningful ways.

In 2007, MCMC was honored with the Designated Planetree Patient-Centered Hospital designation from Planetree, Inc.. According to Planetree, this designation recognizes MCMC’s achievement and innovation in fostering a culture within the hospital that prioritizes patient comfort, dignity, empowerment and well-being.

Guided by Planetree’s ten components of patient-centered care (Human Interaction; Access to Information; Family Involvement; Nutrition; A Healing Environment; Arts and Entertainment; Massage and Caring Touch; Spirituality and Diversity; Integrative Therapies; and Healthy Communities), since 1992, Mid-Columbia Medical Center has continued to implement substantial numbers of initiatives and practices designed to enhance the patient experience.

Mid-Columbia Medical Center continues to change the expectation of what a hospital should be.