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.