Cannon Cures UHS’ Ills

University Health Services (UHS) is often a favorite target of student criticism, but in a small first-floor office in the Holyoke Center, someone is waiting eagerly to hear such complaints.

Patient Advocate Linda C. Cannon plays a unique role at UHS—the official health care provider for thousands of students and Harvard employees.

She will never write a prescription, check your pulse or draw blood—although, if you stop by her office, she may offer you a piece of candy.

Her sole purpose at UHS is to gather patients’ comments and concerns and bring them to the attention of UHS decision-makers.

She focuses on patient satisfaction rather than physical health or well-being. She fields complaints—and the occasional compliment—from patients and works with the UHS staff to correct problems.

With her slight Boston accent, Cannon’s voice is one of the few able to directly influence decision-makers as she divides her time between organizational meetings and private discussions with concerned patients.

Cannon responds to more than 700 complaints each year by phone, email or in person. All together, Cannon’s many hats—working with students and staff alike—make for a long workday. She normally works 10- to 11-hour shifts and often eats lunch at her desk.

Each Monday at 1 p.m., Cannon has a confidential meeting with students on the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) and discusses the problems she and the student representatives have had brought to their attention over the past week.

Most of their agenda each week comes from comment cards left in suggestion boxes throughout UHS—and the topics of discussion can encompass almost any aspect of health care.

“People see my role as just constant complaining,” she says. “But it’s very gratifying because at the end of the day, if I’m able to help one or two or more people, it’s an incredible high.”

While some problems are difficult to solve, many issues can be easily fixed once Cannon has the details of the situation.

For instance, she cites the case of a door in the UHS physical therapy department. When a patient complained about the difficulty of opening the door with a normal handle, Cannon took the issue to her boss, UHS Director David R. Rosenthal ’59, who got a push button installed.

More complicated problems at UHS, though, may take more time to work out.

“There are things we can’t do just like any place.” Cannon says.

Cannon says she especially appreciates the new perspective that the students bring to the table. “I love working with [SHAC].”

Many of the issues that patients raise stem from a breakdown in communication, Cannon says.

“A lot of people don’t read the huge packets that come in the mail,” she says. “They don’t know how to use our system.”

Cannon sees this communication gap as the main issue between students and UHS. She tries to work closely with University administrators to facilitate their understanding of students’ needs, what UHS services are available and how to go about accessing them.

As for problems patients may have with individual clinicians, Cannon says that she works as directly as possible with the staff to both inform them of complaints and maintain patient confidentiality.

But Cannon’s 28 years at UHS, first as a nursing assistant and then in management, make her particularly adept at facilitating these types of patient complaints.

“Because I’ve been here so long, I have a rapport with the clinicians. I’ll go right to them to discuss complaints.” she says.

“I’ll tell a situation—while keeping the confidentiality of the patient—and ask how it can be resolved. I keep a report and tell the chief of the department.”

Her office also conducts a monthly lecture series on student life for administrators and has distributed handbooks on UHS to the various deans. She is responsible for the health-related orientation programs for tutors and proctors. Beyond that, though, her office works directly with students through a variety of outreach programs.

Though recognizing and fixing problems is the main part of Cannon’s job, she says that she fields compliments as well. The feedback from comment cards allow her to see where UHS is succeeding.

“We’ve made new signs that say “If you’re satisfied, tell us. If you’re not, tell us that too,” she says. “People have actually taken the time to write compliments.”

Most important to Cannon, though, is maintaining a respectful and safe environment for patients to speak about confidential emails.

Her full attention always goes to the person she is working with at the moment. Even if her phone is ringing off the hook—as it often does—she refuses to answer while she is meeting with someone in person.

But despite her long hours and the difficulty of dealing with a diverse array of problems, UHS is not Cannon’s entire life and signs of her other main interest—her family—surround her at the office.

Like any proud grandmother, her desk and office walls are decorated with photographs of her three granddaughters.

“I had to put an extra picture up of my youngest, because she looks like a boy in this one,” she laughs. “We made her hair look like Pebbles instead.”

Her daughter, Colleen, is a property manager for Harvard Planning and Real Estate, and occasionally drops by Cannon’s office. These visits help keep the family close.

Beyond the personal photos and the plants that dot her office, though, the office also reflects her desire to make people feel comfortable.

“I have a bunch of candy here for whoever drops by,” she says. “Jelly beans, chocolate. I have a whole tin of candy bars. But, I don’t touch it.”

The candy helps to relax those she meets with in her office, but she also finds that the hectic schedules many affiliates lead prevent them from making a personal visit.

“I’ve tried to figure out ways like email to try to make it as easy as possible [to contact her],” she says. “Especially for students, email is convenient. Sometimes it’s easier than when people leave [vague] phone messages.”

Regardless of how people contact her, she says she always tries to respond within 24 hours.

“I’m here, happy to assist in any way I can,” she says.