Patient and Family Advisors

In our continuing effort to improve the experience in patient care, we are committed to partnering with patient and family advisors in everything we do. Therefore we are encouraging patients and family members to volunteer as advisors and partner with us in many innovative ways.

What is a patient & family advisor?

A patient and family advisor, or PFA, is someone who:

Shares feedback based on personal experiences as a patient or family member
Partners with the health care team to improve the quality of our health system's care for all patients and family members
Reviews or helps create educational or informational materials
Works with the organization in a meaningful partnership for either short- or long-term commitments, depending on the project
Collaborates with various departments to plan and implement changes to improve how we provide patient care
Partners and works with a diverse group of people and serves on a PFA council

Who can be a patient & family advisor?

You can apply to be an advisor if you or a family member received care at Beaumont in the last three years and have ideas about how to make sure other patients and families get the best care possible. You do not need any special qualifications to be a PFA. What is most important are your experiences, ideas, and suggestions. We will provide the training and onboarding.

Are you interested in partnering with Beaumont as a patient and family advisor? Learn more »

Meet a few of our Patient & Family Advisors

Bob Richardson
Beaumont Hospital, Troy

Kristin Rendi
Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital

Sophia Lee
Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital

Christine Rathwell
Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn

Rick Rochte
Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe

What our PFAs are saying about the program

"Obviously, it’s a large organization, but I’m very impressed with the thought they put into it and everything they’re doing to make it more accessible and friendlier and the ability for the family and the patients to all be involved in their care."

- Ken Konop, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital

"The patient and family advisory council, we’re trying to develop policies for the hospital that make it inclusive for the family to be involved in the decision making for their loved ones. We want to make sure that the patient understands what’s going on, we want to make sure that the patient understands who their doctor is, the medicine that they’re receiving, the treatment that they’re receiving, why this is going on and if the family members want to be included in that, that’s even better."

- Gary Cipolloni, Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn

"I accepted this role because when we have the opportunity to use the emergency department, it did not go well. And when one can simply whine about that or step up to the plate and say look, I believe I have something to offer. It is a time in my life where I have that opportunity to give back to the community. And so that’s why I do it. It makes sense to me. And I am passionate about healthcare, especially the kind of healthcare that the elderly get. So those are major areas for me. Are we paying enough attention to our subsets of people? And this is a great opportunity to do this in a good organization that’s willing to spend the time and energy and listen."

- Judith Runk, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital

"As an advisor I come to the meetings, give my input on my experiences and what I think they should you know be looking at improving. One of the things is always say it’s a stroke survivor, not a patient, not a victim."

- Frank Guarino, Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital