Valerie Choniuk has spent her career across the healthcare continuum, from emergency rooms and acute care hospitals to nursing homes and large medical groups. As a customer experience executive, she has learned that patient experience is not something you layer on top of clinical care. It is the care. In this conversation with Geoffrey, Valerie shares how she came to that realization through years of working at the intersection of patient engagement, employee experience, and clinical operations, and why organizations that treat experience as an add-on will always fall short.

Some of the most powerful moments in this episode come from Valerie's time in long-term care, where she witnessed firsthand how behavior is a signal, not a problem. She tells the story of an angry resident whose outbursts masked deep grief and a total loss of identity, and staff whose apparent indifference was really a system that never gave them space to see beyond that behavior. Valerie makes the case that if we do not intentionally design for dignity, we will unintentionally design against it, and that lesson applies far beyond healthcare.

Additional Resources: Connect with Valerie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriechoniuk/

Visit Mo-Ments of Experience's website: www.mo-mentsofexperience.com

Subscribe to Mo-Ments of Experience on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mo-mentsofexperience?si=IZAB036xX1mmrn2C

Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peopleforward-network/

Learn more about PeopleForward Network: https://peopleforwardnetwork.com/

Key Takeaways:

• Experience is the core of care, not a layer added on top of clinical delivery
• Behavior is a signal — from patients and staff alike — not a problem to be managed
• You cannot motivate anyone; motivation is intrinsic, but you can inspire people
• The number one predictor of team performance is whether team members feel their colleagues have their back
• Designing for dignity must be intentional, or organizations will unintentionally design against it