Medical Care For Seniors and
Patients of All Ages. Effective
phone and on-line assistance to patients and
their families anywhere in the U.S. Hands-on
advocacy in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and
Southwestern PA.
THEIR FAMILIES. Frustrated and frightened because your concerns and
questions aren't being taken seriously? Do you know something's wrong but
don't know what to do about it? Are you dealing with a major screw-up that no
one will take responsibility for? Want to plan a less stressful hospitalization
and recovery? Contact Your Daughter's In Town: Patient Advocacy for Elders.
Call Suzanne at 412.390.1617 or e-mail her at suzannesteidl@comcast.net
there 24 hours a day do you know what to do to avoid errors?
The surgeon is impatient with questions about the procedure and follow-up and
leaves you and your family in the dark about the need and recovery. Mom and Dad
don't feel comfortable asking too many questions. How do you get answers?
Do you know how to get medical staff to take you and your concerns seriously?
There’s little continuity of care in most hospitals. Patients may have the same
nurse twice but rarely more than that so do they really know more than you do?
There are steps you can take to avoid a hospital-acquired infection. Do you know
what these precautions are?
Do you have a health care team in place whose members communicate with you
and with each other? Do you know how to make this happen?
Not all rehabilitation facilities are equal. How do you choose a facility that will offer
appropriate care for your or your husband's needs? What questions do you ask
when you’re making a choice?
Why Every Patient Needs an Advocate
A full-page ad in our local newspaper praises the "miracle workers," a group of
neurosurgeons at a local hospital. The same issue contains the obituary of a young
man who died in the same hospital from an infection following routine surgery to
repair a deviated septum. It seems there's no such thing as "routine surgery".
Medication errors injure or kill at least 1.5 million people a year. Of
every 20 people who go into a U.S. hospital one will get an infection.
Hospitalizations are difficult under the best of circumstances and too much can and
does go wrong. Complications following surgery should be the exception but are
becoming the norm. Do you know how to avoid them?
Are you or someone you love truly prepared to be hospitalized? Do you have all the
information you need to make good decisions and take appropriate precautions?
And will you know what to do if something does go wrong?
The Patient Advocate
I am an organizer and a health advocate with a lot of experience getting answers
and results in a hospital setting and I may be exactly what you need right now.
Information is available but sometimes not easily available; you need to know how
to get it. Cooperation is achievable but you need to know how to get that, too. And
organization is essential to successful, less stressful oversight.
If work, distance or family obligations make it hard for you to tend to a loved one’s
well-being or if you need help preparing yourself or anyone for a hospital stay or if
the worst has happened and you aren't getting the answers or cooperation you
need, let's talk about how I can help.
For more information about clients I've assisted and how I may be of service to you
and your family, please click on the FAQ link below.
Patient Advocate
Your Daughter's In Town
depend on doctors, nurses and social
workers to have the time to explain or
even know all the details involved in
achieving error-free hospitalizations
and rehabilitation. Excellent patient
care doesn't just happen.
Patients and their families need
organized, trustworthy information to
make good decisions and the safe-
guards in place to avoid errors and
complications. And they need to know
what to do when problems arise.
Suzanne knows essential questions to
ask that no one will think to volunteer
the answers to. She knows steps you
can take to avoid errors and she knows
how to get answers and quick cooper-
ation when you suspect something's
wrong. She will facilitate as much
communication and planning as you
feel you need to help ensure appro-
priate care and successful outcomes.
Her specialized and unique knowledge
comes from caring for her own friends
and family and, for more than two years,
through working with her clients.
Suzanne has been an effective
advocate for more than thirty years.
She has worked on behalf of a variety of
people including those with disabilities
and abused and neglected youth. She
has represented consumers before
regulatory agencies and elected
officials.
As a labor organizer and representative
she has defended the rights and
promoted the interests of workers
including those of the American
Federation of Television & Radio
Artists, the union of broadcasters and
actors.
To discuss your specific health
advocacy needs and fees for
service tailored to your needs,
call 412.390.1617 or
suzannesteidl@comcast.net
