Inpatient Information

St. Joseph’s Hospital strives to make your hospital stay as comfortable as possible. To assist you, we have created the list below.

Please bring any information or paperwork given to you by your physician, as well as copies of living wills or power of attorney, advance directives, or other information you would like placed in your medical record. All information is confidential.

Your Medical Care:
Your complete medical care is under the direction/supervision of your physician, who is a member of the hospital medical staff. It is your physician who determines what diagnostic tests you will take, whether or not you require x-rays, therapy or medication and what food you can eat. Hospital nurses, technicians and other specialists will follow your physician's directions in providing your care.

What to bring:
You will need to bring any personal items, such as pajamas, robes, slippers, shaving equipment, toothbrush, and any others you use daily. We advise you to leave any valuables at home.

Medication:
Please do not bring medications from home unless your physician requests you to. You should have a complete list of all medications, including dosages, you take at home. If your doctor requests, all medications you bring from home will be stored and given by the nursing staff.

Identification Bands:
You will be required to wear an identification band at all times during your stay. This ensures you will receive proper treatments and medications. DO NOT remove the band for any reason. If the band becomes tight, alert the nursing staff.

Treatment:
You will be asked to sign appropriate consent and release forms to authorize hospital personnel to provide services your physician has ordered for you.

Admission:
When you register in Admitting, you will be asked to sign a Consent which gives us permission to treat you and bill your insurance.

If you are a new patient, you will be given a copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices and asked to sign an acknowledgement form indicating you have received this document.

If you have Medicare, you will be given a copy of the Important Message from Medicare and asked to sign an acknowledgement form indicating you have received this document.

During the admission process you will be asked to present your insurance cards so that we may collect the necessary information and scan them into your record. You are responsible for notifying us of a change in your insurance coverage.

If you are uninsured, you will be given a letter regarding financial assistance available to the uninsured.

Our Patient Rights brochure is available at each Admitting desk for your convenience.