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The Halifax Health Experience

Jennifer Wagner

Manager,
The Halifax Health Experience

Healthcare is becoming an increasingly competitive and consumer-driven environment. And Halifax Health is working to ensure it stays ahead of the competition by focusing on patient and employee satisfaction.

“It’s about creating a positive patient environment as well as a positive working environment — they’re both very interconnected,” said Jennifer Wagner, Manager of The Halifax Health Experience. “This all ties back to the quality and standards of service we provide.”

The Halifax Health Experience is more than just an internal customer service training program. Numerous aspects of the healthcare experience are being addressed throughout the organization, such as noise levels, creating a calming environment and moving to all private rooms.

Many Factors Contribute to Healing

“There are many facets and factors that contribute to healing — clinical care, emotional care and physical environment. We want to focus on all of these to create a better experience,” said Wagner. “It’s simple: Treat everyone as you would want to be treated if you were in their situation. I’m here to champion that idea.”

The program was started by a committee of representatives from throughout the organization and a team of nearly 30 trainers to serve as ambassadors. It was created through the input and feedback of team members to best suit the organization. The program is designed to ensure that all aspects of the health system meet the highest standards of service.

“It goes beyond the classroom and is designed to be sustainable and ingrained in everything we do,” said Wagner. “It’s an ongoing initiative that extends through the next several years.”

Wagner also notes the timeliness of the program with the opening of the France Tower and the current focus on technology and electronic health records.

“Structurally and technologically we are working to improve our services, so this initiative complements the other areas that are being advanced right now,” said Wagner. “It really helps to build the foundation for how we should operate every day. We want our entire organization — each and every one of us — to embrace this.”