Leading-edge service provides care for hospital staff

The Peer Support Program at the Brant Community Healthcare System recently celebrated its 1-year milestone.

“People who choose to work in healthcare, particularly acute hospital settings, know upfront that it is a caring environment where we help patients and families through what can often be very traumatic and stressful situations,” Cindy Hayward-Dale said, Interim director of Organizational Health, Organizational Development, and Volunteer Engagement.

“Hospital staff, physicians, and volunteers are facing issues we have not seen before. Staff shortages, exhaustion, and burnout are commonplace. Staff can easily find themselves not being able to leave the job at work.”

Realizing the emotional and mental health of employees needed to be addressed, Hayward-Dale and others in her department set out to make a change in the lives of the hospital caregivers.

The result is the Peer Support Program, an emotional support service designed to improve the psychological health and safety, resiliency, well-being, and sustainability of all employees, physicians, and volunteers at the BGH and Willett Hospitals.

Read the full Hospital Insider.