AUGUSTA VICTORIA HOSPITAL
EAST JERUSALEM
In February of 2014, the Standish Foundation traveled to the Augusta-Victoria Hospital, located on the southern side of Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem to host the staff in a Passion for Caring Retreat. The team learned about caring for patients, caring for themselves, collaboration, and creating an environment conducive to healing.
The Standish Foundation traveled to AVH again in January of 2015 to work with hospital staff on a plan to implement comfort care for children. Phase 1 of the Passion for Caring program was implemented with select hospital staff. After this visit, board member Thomas Hobson made the observation that, “As an organization, AVH is truly committed to make a positive change in providing excellent psychosocial care in a patient- and family-center manner. You can see this from the top of the hospital down. Both the leadership and the staff are committed to doing what is the best for their patients and families. This is a quality that can’t be faked, and is necessary to make major long-term changes in patient care. After spending a short period of time with them, I have every belief that they will become leaders of patient- and family-centered care in their region.”
In April of 2015, the Standish Foundation returned to the Augusta-Victoria Hospital to provide staff training on how to implement techniques that would ensure that the hospital is providing compassionate care to children. A 3-day training with seminars, workshops, activities and group discussions was completed. Program goals were to roll out Passion for Caring pilot program with Augusta Victoria Hospital, conduct assessments to monitor current needs and plan for outcomes, further partnership with AVH management and staff; including training & mentoring, and be of service to patients and families in addressing any issues brought to our attention. Twenty-five staff members attended the full 3-day training.
The Standish Foundation returned to AVH in August of 2015 to continue identifying obstacles and opportunities in providing comfort care in the hospital setting. Training was provided to nurses, and policies were drafted to further implement comfort care techniques.
Augusta-Victoria Hospital continues to implement the Passion for Caring program in their hospital, and the Standish Foundation is committed to providing support and ongoing training.
