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Patient Advisory Committee

The Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) of the End Stage Renal Disease Network of New York is a statewide organization of patients or family members who volunteer their time to represent the Network to their unit and their unit to the Network.

This is accomplished in several ways:

• Representatives informing patients of the Network and its function.
• Representatives communicating with patients in the unit to identify concerns, ideas for unit improvement, and potential problems with staff or other patients.
• Facility administrative staff is asked to meet regularly with their PAC representatives to communicate the needs of the unit and the needs of the patients to each other and to work in a team effort to address concerns and improve quality of care.
• Representatives can assist in the orientation of patients new to the unit. Oftentimes, new patients are overwhelmed with information provided by professionals, yet will understand what is being said by another patient.
• PAC reps at some units get involved in developing social activities to promote a sense of community in the unit. Examples would be organizing a bus trip to a picnic or other recreational area, or, having a group of patients volunteer to visit hospitalized patients, or, having an annual vote among the patients for best staff person of the year, then arranging a ceremony to acknowledge the winner.
  

The Organization of the Patient Advisory Committee

Membership and activities of the PAC are coordinated at the End Stage Renal Disease Network of New York offices in Lake Success.

PAC chairpersons are chronic kidney disease patients that assist representatives in a specific region. This is accomplished by communication through letters, regional meetings and/or personal phone calls.

PAC representatives volunteer a minimum of 2 years of their time to work with staff and patients in their own unit to help improve quality of care.

PAC Chairpersons' Goals for PAC Reps

• Educate consumers about treatment options but refrain from giving medical advice.
• Empower consumers to be involved in their healthcare emphasizing to KNOW YOUR NUMBERS!
• Promote exercise emphasizing to "check with your doctor first."
• Encourage patients to seek counsel from their social workers.
• Integrate socializing with information pertinent to dialysis and chronic renal failure.
• Organize social events to promote a sense of community.
  

PAC Chairpersons Goals

• Recruit PAC Chairs: There are currently 12 Chairpersons representing 7 of the 11 regions of New York State.  The goal is to recruit two chairpersons for each region.
• Visiting units to recruit or initiate PAC representation: Chairpersons are to initiate contact through the ESRD Network office for the unit they would like to visit.
  

       * "PAC Notes":  Chairpersons to encourage patient representatives be sure patients are receiving issues of "PAC Notes".

 

Patient Advisory Committee Chairpersons

• Albany-Utica: Kathe LeBeau 
• Bronx: Vivian Davis, Lorraine Langdon 
• Brooklyn: Warren Edmonds 
• Buffalo: TBA 
• Hudson Valley: TBA
  
• Manhattan/Staten Island: Larry Wilson/Aaron Battle 
• Nassau County: Michael Young  
• Queens: Elizabeth Credle, Joyce Jenkins-Barnes, Monica Richter 
• Rochester: TBA 
• Suffolk County: TBA 
• Syracuse: Hazel Parker, Kelly Engel

Please use the PAC Representative Information update form, to keep the Network posted of changes with your PAC representatives including telephone numbers and addresses.

How to Become a Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) Representative

Ask your social worker or nurse supervisor about becoming a PAC representative and to contact the Network on your behalf via e-mail at info@nw2.esrd.net.