Patient Relations Associate

**Requisition ID**: 376430

**Position Number**: 20046072

**Posting End Date**: March 10, 2025

**City**: Winnipeg

**Employer**: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

**Site**:WRHA Corporate - Grace Hospital

**Department / Unit**: Quality Patient Safety & Accreditation

**Job Stream**: Clinical Support

**Union**: Non Union

**Anticipated Start Date**: 04/01/2025

**FTE**: 1.00

**Anticipated Shift**: Days

**Work Arrangement**: In Person

**Daily Hours Worked**: 7.75

**Annual Base Hours**: 2015

Grow your career in the Winnipeg Health Region Our team provides a spectrum of health care services through an integrated network of sites, services and organizations. We’re united by a shared commitment to excellent and equitable health care.

**Position Overview**:

- Build rapport and trust with patients, care home residents, their families and friends from varying cultural, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds to assist them in navigating the health system by handling all requests with sensitivity and providing information and appropriate resources or referrals.
- Facilitates conflict management and complaint resolutions for the most complex and sensitive situations. The position serves as a patient resource for matters related to complaint resolution, compliance, policies and procedures.
- Act as the primary liaison between patient and site/service stakeholders when responding to patients’ complaints or critical incidents.
- Receive, acknowledge, and act as a primary contact for patients, care home residents, families and friends regarding their concerns and complaints about the healthcare services provided, including partnering with patient safety to provide consistent communications during critical incident reviews.
- Serve as the family’s primary contact for information and updates as the review progresses and will facilitate initial disclosure and final disclosure to the patient/family, including supporting care providers (including physician) and leaders to share information with clarity and compassion.
- Triage requests, suggestions, concerns, and complaints following established processes and navigate resolutions to ensure all concerns are given impartial consideration and appropriate responses.
- Ensure appropriate resources are determined to engage with patients, care home residents, family members, friends, and clinicians including care teams, senior leadership and physicians to collect information to review complaints related to the health services, consulting with and escalating possible critical incidents to patient safety.
- Appropriately inform senior management of specific and aggregate complaint information, highlighting trends and opportunities to improve patient, care home resident, family and friend experiences.
- Provide appropriate responses to patients, care home residents, their families and friends on behalf of the service delivery organization (SDO).
- Provide input and recommend potential quality improvements based on information from patients, care home residents, their families and friends regarding their experiences to enhance future patient experience.
- Share patient experiences with health leaders to support improvements to health system performance and models of care.
- Foster a culture of safety and inclusion and support health services leaders and in contributing to building a healthy, culturally safe workplace and positive environments.

**Experience**:

- 5 years of experience working directly with patients and families.
- 3 years of experience delivering services to culturally diverse individuals from a variety of backgrounds, preferably including direct experience working with the Indigenous peoples and communities of Manitoba including the First Nations, Metis and Inuit and supporting reconciliation and acting to address historical and contemporary healthcare issues.

**Education (Degree/Diploma/Certificate)**:

- Post-secondary degree in a relevant discipline such as health/social sciences, communications, health information services from an accredited educational institution.
- A certificate in quality management, patient safety, mediation or conflict resolution are assets.
- An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

**Certification/Licensure/Registration**:

- Active member in good standing of an associated regulatory body as appropriate.

**Qualifications and Skills**:

- Demonstrated staff level leadership capabilities. The provincial health system in Manitoba has adopted the LEADS in a Caring Environment framework.
- Conflict Resolution and Mediation skills is as asset.

**Physical Requirements**:

- Must be able to work safely in a typical computerized office environment; frequent meetings including in clinical care rooms at hospitals and/or resident care facilities, and to lift and carry items of up to approximately 10 kg.
- Interruptions from stakeholders are common; dedicated and focused time for planning and concentratio