Prowers Medical Center: Patient and Family Information.

About Your Stay

Admission
Your admission to Prowers Medical Center was requested by your Physician who is a member of the hospital medical staff. Whenever possible, we would like to get the preliminary information needed for your admission. If at times the questions seem unnecessary, we ask your indulgence. Many of our questions are required by law for vital records, and others are of importance to the various departments of the hospital which will be serving you. Please be assured that this information will be held in strict confidence.

Discharge
Shortly following your admission to Prowers Medical Center, team members will meet with you and your family to determine your needs and preferences, including special equipment, nursing care or extended care you may need at home. Your nurse will assist you in gathering your belongings and transporting you to your car. If you experience difficulties with transportation, please notify your nurse.

Patient Satisfaction after Discharge
You may receive a survey or a phone call after you are discharged. We welcome the opportunity to serve you better and your feedback will help our efforts to continuously improve our quality of care and service.

Accomodations
Your hospital room is equipped to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Your bed is electrically equipped to adjust to the most comfortable position as well as provide within reach, a nurse call system, television, remote and reading light. Bed rails may be used as necessary to protect you during your stay. We encourage the use of side rails especially at night. Family involvement plays a vital role in the healing process so each room is beautifully designed with ample space, including a built-in window bench that serves as a bed for families desiring to stay overnight. We will do our best to honor your preference but there may be times when alternate arrangements may be necessary due to high occupancy, doctor's orders, or other special reasons. Because the hospital's primary responsibiity is the medical care of patients, it may also be necessary to move you to a different room after you are hospitalized.

Tobacco-Free Campus Policy
Prowers Medical Center is committed to providing a safe and tobacco-free environment for you, your visitors and hospital team members. Smoking and/or the use of tobacco products are not permitted on the hospital campus. You, family members and visitors may not use tobacco while guests of Prowers Medical Center. Your provider may order smoking cessation aids while you are in the hospital. Ask the staff if you need these aids.

Calling Your Nurse
When you need assistance, please push the nurse call button that is located on both sides of your bed rails. Simply push the button and someone will either speak to you through the speaker or will come directly to your room to assist you.

Room Temperature
Your room temperature can be adjusted based on your preference. The thermostat is located in your room on the wall beside your bed. If you need assistance, please ask your nurse. The heating/cooling system is monitored by our Facilities Management Department and can be adjusted upon your request.

Telephones
Telephones are provided in all rooms for every patient. To make local calls, dial “9” plus the telephone number you wish to reach. To make long distance calls, dial “0” or the nurse's station at extension 1600, and someone will assist you in completing your call. All long distance calls must be by credit card, collect, or billed to your home number.

A courtesy telephone is located in the surgery department waiting area and in the emergency department waiting area for use by visitors. A courtesy phone is also available in the main lobby.

Television/Internet
Color televisions are provided for your pleasure. A remote control is available for your convenience. The television can also be controlled by your nurse call control. We ask that you please be considerate of other patients by keeping the volume low.

Please leave the remote control and telephone in your room upon discharge. If they are removed after your stay you will receive a separate bill for those items.

A video game system with a selection of games and a DVD player with a selection of movies are available upon request.

Access to the Internet and email is available in every patient room. Please ask your nurse to contact Information Technology and they will accommodate you.

Mail and Flowers
All mail and flowers addressed to you will be delivered to your room. If you have letters you wish to have mailed, you may give them to your nurse who will be more than happy to mail them for you. You must provide postage. Mail received after your discharge will be forwarded to your home.

Valuables
You are strongly urged to leave large sums of money or valuables at home or send them home with your family or friends. Eye glasses, contact lenses, and dentures should be kept in protective containers. Denture containers are available at the nurses station upon request. The hospital will not be responsible for the loss or breakage of such items.

Food Services
The Food Services Department is responsible for your nutritional needs. This is done in accordance with the diet order that is prescribed by your physician. An A la Carte menu is available for all diets including liquid diets. Our extensive restaurant style menu will be brought to you each day by food service personnel who can assist you with your selections. Please let us know if you have any food allergies or intolerances. You may choose to have your meals delivered at the normal times:
Breakfast - 7:30 a.m., Lunch - 11:30 a.m., Dinner - 5:30 p.m. OR you can choose what time you would like your meal served. We serve any time between 6:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.

If you need a beverage or snack between meals and it is allowed on your prescribed diet, there are several items available in regular or sugar free. Just ask your nurse for assistance. We have a Registered Dietitian who can assist you with special dietary needs and provide diet instructions during your stay or upon discharge. We hope that your dining experience is VERY GOOD! If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact Food Services at extension 1823.

Dining Room
Guests are welcome to visit our cafeteria and eat in our dining room or take their tray to the patient room. Items are individually priced. Serving times are: Breakfast - 6:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. & 7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Lunch - 11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. The cafeteria is closed at dinner but food is available through the vending machines and fresh food machine stocked daily by our Food Services staff.

Vending Machines
Refreshments are available 24 hours a day in the vending machines located by Food Services and Facilities Management Departments. The Cold Food Machine is stocked daily by our Food Services Department with freshly prepared food from our cafeteria. A microwave and a toaster are also provided for your convenience. The snack machine includes chips, candy and other items. Pop machines are also available.

Notary Services
Notary Public Services arrangements can be made upon your request.

Safety/Risk Management
This hospital has the required fire prevention and fire fighting equipment. Our personnel are trained to act in any situation regarding a fire or emergency situation. While you are here, the hospital staff may have to practice a fire or disaster drill. Such drills are held to assure maximum safety for our patients. Please do not be disturbed if you hear or see evidence of such a drill in progress. If you have concerns please notify your nurse.

Visiting Privileges
Visits from family and friends play an important role in making your hospital stay more pleasant and in promoting your healing. However, short visits are encouraged in order to give you the rest you need. Friends and family are encouraged to visit patients anytime they would like during the patients stay at Prowers Medical Center. We request that all visitors cooperate in promoting the comfort and well being of our patients by observing these guidelines:

Only two visitors are allowed to visit a patient at one time.

Prowers Medical Center is a Tobacco-Free Facility.

"Quit Kits" and "Through With Chew Kits" are available if you ask for them.

Food should not be given to patients without permission.

Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the hospital.

Adult supervision is required for all children.

Overnight visitors are allowed in special circumstances.

In the event that visitation does not serve the best interest of the patient, determination of visiting privileges will be at the discretion of your doctor.

The hospital reserves the right to ask any visitor(s) whose conduct is disruptive to leave. Remember, visits should be enjoyed, not endured. The hospital may also limit visitation during epidemics.

Financial Services
For smooth handling of charges and payments, please be prepared to provide the following:

Social security number

Insurance policy subscriber and policy number

Insurance claims billing address, if available

Insurance carrier contact telephone number

Name of your primary care physician

Current address

Current telephone number

Prowers Medical Center will bill your insurance carrier(s) as a courtesy. However, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring timely and appropriate payment by your insurance carrier.

Patient Financial Services
If you anticipate difficulty concerning the financing of your hospitalization, we urge you to consult our Patient Financial Services department. If you do not have insurance, or if it is limited, the Prowers Medical Center Policy will be applied. Our Patient Financial Counselor will meet with you before you are discharged to discuss your hospital bill and your annual deductible to determine whether you have met the deductible amount or if it is applicable.

Colorado Indigent Care Program
You may be eligible for financial assistance from the Colorado Indigent Care Program. This program provides discounts to qualified low-income Colorado residents for the cost of needed medical care. Please call our Financial Counselor for more information.

Medicare
If you are covered by Medicare, we will need a copy of your Medicare card to verify eligibility and process your Medicare claim. You should be aware that the Medicare program excludes payments for certain items and services. Deductibles and copayments are the responsibilaity of the patient.

Medicaid
If you are covered by Medicaid, we will need a copy of your Medicaid card. Medicaid also has payment limitations on a number of services and items.

Fees Not Covered
Your final bill will not include fees for professional charges of your physician, surgeon or any consulting physicians such as Pathologists, Radiologists and your personal physician. They will bill you separately.

Discharge
Prior to your discharge from the hospital, you must be cleared through the Patient Financial Services Consultant to ensure that all appropriate paperwork and necessary documentation has been completed.

Your Rights to Make Decisions About Medical Treatment
This section explains your rights to participate in health care decisions and how you can plan what should be done when you can’t speak for yourself. Although federal law requires us to give an adult over 18 years of age this information, the choice to have a medical directive is left up to you.

Making an Advance Directive
What happens if people become too sick to make their own medical decisions? Someone must decide when to start treatment, when not to start it, or when to stop it. Family members and doctors usually make decisions when the patient can’t. Sometimes they are not sure what is best. Sometimes they disagree. That’s when it would be good to know what the patient would have wanted and whom the patient would have wanted to make the decisions. That’s why it would be a good idea to talk with your family, close friends, and physicians about filling out an advance directive. Having one empowers you – if you’ve made your wishes clear, they’re more likely to be followed.

Living Wills
A “Living Will” is not the same as a “last will and testament”. It has nothing to do with what happens to your personal property or your estate after death. The purpose of a Living Will is to let us know in advance how long you want life support treatment to be provided for you if you ever have to be put on life support machines. This “Living Will” will tell your doctor and family how long you want treatment provided and when you want it stopped.

CPR Directive (“NO Cor” or No Code” or “DNR”)
A CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) directive tells your doctor what to do if your heart stops beating or you stop breathing. If you do not want CPR, a physician’s order must be written in your chart each time you are admitted. If you do want CPR, it will be automatically given to you, if necessary, while you are a patient.

Durable Power of Attorney
“A Medical Durable Power of Attorney” is not a “power of attorney” for business or personal financial matters. It is only about your health care. In this kind of document you can state what types of medical treatment you want to have or don’t want to have. For example, do you want surgery, dialysis, blood transfusion, or cancer treatment? You can also name someone to make decisions for you ONLY when you can no longer make them yourself.

Organ Donation
Organ donation provides an opportunity for you to give life and health to another individual. The decision to be an organ donor should be an informed one. Please inform the hospital staff if you are an organ donor. For information and a donor card, please ask your nurse.

Chaplain
The clergy from the area visit the hospital and are deeply interested in your spiritual welfare. The Ministerial Alliance provides the hospital with Chaplain Services. Upon your request, your nurse will call the minister or priest of your choice.

Disabled Provisions
We provide disabled patients and visitors with the following assistance: parking spaces located near to some outside entrances, ramps for wheelchairs, public restrooms accessible to persons confined to wheelchairs as well as other types of disabilities, and lower water fountains.

Interpreter Services
Prowers Medical Center provides free translation and interpretation services to our patients and/or their authorized representatives. If you require assistance with Language Interpretation Services, ask your provider or nurse. An interpreter will be readily available from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, weekends and holidays. A Telephone Language Line is also available in several languages 24 hours a day.

A TTY telephone is available for your use. Please ask your nurse for assistance if you require one.