Whether it’s helping to shovel a patient’s car out of the snow, giving a patient an extra blanket when he or she is cold or offering a therapy dog to help a young girl feel comfortable in a strange setting, — in healthcare, every moment truly matters.

Countless little moments. But they mean so much.

Patients choose us for our clinical expertise — but they remember us for the warmth, concern and attention to detail we show them every day.

“Every Moment Matters” is the name of our new customer experience program, which is being piloted at Rushford and Natchaug Hospital, and the program will be launched system-wide beginning in March. The ultimate goal is to build customer loyalty, which according to the Advisory Board is the way for healthcare organizations to grow in the future.

Staff members at Natchaug Hospital and Rushford have been nominated by their colleagues for doing the little things that improve the patient experience. These employees are being highlighted on large posters, the Intranet and videos.

During the next few weeks these posters and materials will be displayed prominently at Natchaug and Rushford, with a goal of encouraging employees and managers to nominate colleagues who exemplify how “every moment matters.”

When we roll this out to the whole system, there will be an tool called “Momentum” that HHC has purchased that will allow frontline staff and managers to electronically nominate their colleagues in real time, with specific criteria connected to our values and behaviors. There will also likely be training and more specifics around how we are all going to work together to improve the patient experience.

But let’s not wait to give recognition to our fellow staff members. If you have someone to nominate, please send their name, department, contact information and reason for being nominated to emily.gravell@hhchealth.org.