Improving the Patient Experience at Mid Coast Hospital
By Abby Flanagan ‘25Mid Coast Hospital is a small, not-for-profit hospital that is committed to improving the health of the community through high quality health care services. This summer, I had the honor of working closely with Mid Coast Hospital’s Volunteer department. I was mainly assigned the task of researching, designing and integrating a project to measure how volunteers impact the patient experience. Through lots of research, I created a survey for patients, a survey for staff, and conducted a financial analysis. I was able to use this information to: suggest ways to improve the volunteer department, highlight areas in which it is excelling, and identify ways that it is negatively impacting patients.
Additionally I served in other capacities around the hospital. I spent countless hours sorting through files, updating information sheets, reorganizing resources at the greeter desk, help set up an activity cart, and assisted wherever I could including spending hours counting diapers. My favorite task during this internship was working the greeter desk at the main entrance where I was able to direct patients, answer questions, and put a smile on peoples faces as they passed.
Every aspect of this internship further solidified the idea that I want to become a doctor and help people when they are in need. It is hard to narrow down all the skills I learned throughout this internship but above all of the skills, the immersion in a hospital setting that it provided me gave me critical skills and knowledge that I will take with me into a career in medicine.
Internship funded by the Student Internship Fund provided by Barabara Gross '77.