Advocate Children’s Hospital

Overview

Advocate Children’s Hospital is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Nation’s Best Children’s Hospitals for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery. Many physicians on staff are recognized among the Top Doctors regionally and nationally in their field. Advocate approached FC about parking and patient flow issues at their Park Ridge, IL campus. As the patient population grew, parking lots were filling. Limited access to parking left parents frustrated and arriving late or missing appointments altogether.

Solutions

FC implemented a valet parking plan which relocated 18 physician parking spaces to another lot on campus, those spaces were used for valet parking. Through efficient use of the space, we were able to fit an additional 4 vehicles. We also implemented a parking compliance position which ensured that the patient self-park lot was not used by employees of the hospital.

Lastly, we implemented valet parking software that allows parents to text when their child’s appointment is finished. Upon notification, we retrieve their vehicle and it’s waiting for them when they get to the front door. We also provided a web-portal request tool so discharge teams and admin staff can request vehicles for parents who have their hands full.

Results

Implementing valet service along with parking reallocation and compliance resulted in more available self-park, a significant decrease in late arrivals, missed appointments and an overall increase in patient and parent satisfaction.

Web-portal vehicle request instructions were provided to various departments desk staff along with scripting to inform parents of the feature at the end of an appointment. As a result, remote requests at this entrance were higher than any other location we manage (~15% usage). Text feedback scores average 4.85 out of 5 and parents love the feature!