Simple Gestures Make a Difference

Mar 26, 2016 | Kanaaz Pereira, Connect Moderator | @kanaazpereira

Monique Most, Office of Patient Experience (OPE), was staffing the OPE main office in the Mayo Lobby in Rochester when a patient came in with a concern she wished to share. Most, a patient experience champion since October 2014, took the woman's intake information and invited her to sit in a conference room while she waited to speak with an OPE coordinator.

The woman had a question for Most. She was in Rochester for appointments for the week. She had celiac disease, an immune reaction to eating gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley and rye — and she'd been living on snacks. Could Most help her find a restaurant with a gluten-free menu? "She hadn't had a single good meal," says Most.

The woman gave the name of a restaurant that she'd heard catered to people with celiac disease; however, when Most called, new owners told her that they no longer offered gluten-free options. Most then searched the internet for alternatives and found Twigs Tavern & Grille in the Centerstone Plaza Hotel near Soldiers Field.

"Twigs offers an entire gluten-free menu that I printed for our patient," says Most. She wrote the restaurant's phone and address on the menu — and then noticed that the hotel offered shuttle service to and from Mayo Clinic. She called the restaurant to see if the woman could use the shuttle even though she wasn't a Centerstone guest.

"I didn't know if her medical conditions would prevent her from walking, and I think it always feels better to be taken where you need to go when you're dealing with appointments and stuff," says Most. The restaurant told Most to send the woman to the Gonda Lobby, where General Service employees at the entrance would call the shuttle for her.

The patient called the OPE soon after she met with the coordinator and asked if and how she could submit a compliment about how much she appreciated the menu and the shuttle, and how well cared for she felt. "It took not even five minutes to do that for her," says Most. "There are simple things we all do routinely that patients really appreciate. Patients are focused on their health concerns. It makes Mayo seem like not such a big, overwhelming place for them when we all work in tandem to help make their experience trouble free.

This story was originally published in the Mayo Clinic News Center.

For more information about celiac disease, visit mayoclinic.org/celiac disease.