Division of Hospital Medicine Patient and Family Advisory Council 

DHM PFAC group photo
PFAC team members

UCSF Health and DHM are actively working to strengthen our care teams and improve care for patients admitted to the Inpatient Medicine Service.

Despite recent strides, we know there are many things we can do better. One of the things we know will improve our effort to provide patient-centered care is involving patients and their family members, caregivers, and advocates directly as partners in the process. DHM started a PFAC in 2018 specifically focused on the needs of patients and advocates admitted to the Inpatient Medicine Service at the Parnassus Hospital.

We work directly with faculty and staff in DHM to ensure the patient voice is considered foremost in all of the Clinical, Quality Improvement, Safety, Research, and Patient Experience work we do on a daily basis.

We meet once a month on Zoom. If you are a current or former patient or caregiver of a patient of the Hospital Medicine service at Parnassus and you'd like to be involved in the PFAC, please email us at [email protected].

Our Mission Statement:

A passionate group of patients and caregivers dedicated to informing, and supporting, efforts to improve the experiences and outcomes of patients hospitalized on the medicine service at UCSF Health. Specifically, the Hospital Medicine PFAC members advocate for:

- equitable and accessible healthcare

- raising standards of empathic communication

- promoting healthcare engagement through education

- championing a holistic and humanistic approach to hospital care

Highlighted Projects:

TBD for the moment! Will update soon.

Join us!

If you have experience with our Inpatient Medicine Service and are interested in joining our dynamic, diverse group of patients, family members, and caregivers, we would love to have you involved!

We are currently updating our online application. In the meantime, please email us at [email protected] if you would like to participate in our PFAC. 

Contact us!

Our group's co-leaders are James Harrison, PhD (Associate Professor), Jeannie Tran, MD (Assistant Clinical Professor), Mia Aham, MD (Assistant Clinical Professor), and Martha Ockenfels-Martinez (Program Manager). If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime at [email protected].