CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital Patient Guide

All visitors of patients at our hospital enjoy equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences and subject to the facility’s clinical restrictions. Visitor policy may be subject to change. Please adhere to any adjustments to permitted visitors, as posted in our facility.

• Visitors under the age of 14 must be escorted by a responsible adult.
• At 9 pm, seven days a week, the main lobby entrance will be locked. After 9 pm, enter the hospital through the emergency department walk-in entrance.
• Visitors remaining after 9 pm are asked to go to the security desk in the emergency department to get a special visitor’s badge.
• There may be times when visitors are asked to leave to better meet the needs of our patients.

Personal toiletry items, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, may be brought from home. You may bring your own pajamas, nightgown, or robe, or you may use gowns provided by the hospital. If you wear glasses, contact lenses, or hearing aids, place them in a case and keep them in a safe place when not in use. If you wear dentures, ask your nurse for a special container. Please do not leave dentures on your meal tray or wrap them in a napkin or tissue as they could accidentally get thrown away.

We cannot take responsibility for your personal property. Please do not bring items of value or large sums of cash to the hospital. If possible, please have a relative or friend take your valuables home. No valuables will be released without proper identification. CommonSpirit is not responsible for your valuables unless they are deposited in the safe.

Please do not bring any medications (prescription, over the counter, or illegal drugs) or herbal remedies to the hospital. While you are a patient at our facility, all medications will be prescribed by a physician, dispensed by the hospital pharmacy, and administered by a nurse. The nurse will explain why the medications have been prescribed and common side effects. Patients are not permitted to administer their own medications/herbal remedies or to keep personal medications/herbal remedies, unless approved by their physician.

During regular business hours, volunteers are available in the main lobby to help patients and families.

Call button

Your nurse will show you the call light, located on the bedside rail or on a remote cord. Pressing the red button, or nurse call, at any time will alert the staff that you have a need.

Bed controls

These are located on the side of your bed. Your nurse will show you how to operate them.

Television

Volume and channel controls are on the television and on the remote. The TV service is provided free of charge. Your care team member can give you a list of TV channels if requested.

Internet Access

Simply connect to the guest network using your wireless network settings. When you first connect, you'll notice "Terms and Conditions" for CommonSpirit Health's guest network. When you click "Accept", you'll be automatically granted access. Guests must have experience in connecting to wireless networks as CommonSpirit Health does not provide any assistance in connecting your device to the wireless network.

The wireless network is available throughout the hospital at all times.

Disclaimer

Enjoy your time on our wireless network. As with any public wireless network, we strongly recommend guests take measures to secure their devices and internet communications. We encourage using virtual private networks (VPNs) in conjunction with personal firewalls and virus protections to mitigate risk to personal data. It is the user's responsibility to take precautions and provide security measures suited to their situation and intended use of the service. Our wireless network should not be used for inappropriate or unlawful purposes.

CommonSpirit Health is not responsible for any personal information that is compromised.

CommonSpirit Health is not responsible for any damage caused to your hardware or software while at any CommonSpirit Health facility.

Please Note: Because this is a free service, CommonSpirit Health does not provide technical support for your device or assistance in connectivity. Guests and visitors should understand how to configure their computer or device and know what hardware or software is necessary to connect to the wireless network.

Telephone

You have a direct telephone line in your hospital room. The number is listed on the telephone. You may give this number to your family and friends. Your callers may also dial 970-247-4311 and ask for your room number. If you do not want to receive calls, ask your nurse to turn off the ringer. If you prefer no one knows your room or phone number, tell your nurse.

• To reach the hospital operator, dial 0-0.
• To call a local number, press 9 plus the 10-digit number, including the area code.
• To call a long-distance number press 0-0 and ask the hospital operator to assist you.

Ask your care team member for the full telephone directory

Housekeeping 

An environmental service associate will clean your room each day. Please tell them if you have any special housekeeping requests or if you need any additional toiletries. Dial 79-1311 to reach an environmental service associate.

Room service dining

Your diet is an important part of your total hospital care. Our goal is to provide you with the best diet needed for a quick recovery. You are our first priority, and we want you to be satisfied. Our nutrition team works closely with you to provide meals you prefer, meeting your preferences and your doctor’s orders.

Delayed meals

Sometimes your meal may have to be changed, delayed, or canceled because of x-rays, lab tests, surgery, or other tests. After we are notified that you have returned to your room and it is okay for you to eat, a meal will be served.

Café/Cafeteria

Garden Terrace Café

Location: on Mercy’s garden level

Weekday hours: Breakfast: 6:30 am - 9:30 am, Lunch: 11 am - 2 pm

Weekend hours: Closed

Merciful Mug Coffee Shop

includes hot and grab-and-go items

Location: on level 1 across from reception

Weekday hours: 7 am - 9 pm

Weekend hours: 7am - 8 pm

Case managers and social workers are available to assist with your discharge needs. Our team will collaborate to determine the safest and most appropriate discharge plan for you, identify resources you may need, and offer support. Remember to:

• have someone available to pick you up upon discharge
• follow-up with your primary care provider
• take your medication list to your primary care provider.

Your nurses will discuss your history and plan of care with you and whomever you choose to include at your bedside multiple times during the day. As the patient, you are encouraged to actively participate in this process.

The purpose of interdisciplinary rounds is to coordinate your care. Your team may include your physician, primary nurse, discharge planner, pharmacist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, unit doctor, respiratory therapist, and chaplain, among others. Please let the team know your questions and concerns so they can determine how to best assist you.

Hospitalists are medical doctors who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients. The CommonSpirit hospitalist team includes physicians trained in internal or family practice medicine and many have additional specialized training. Because this group focuses on patients who are hospitalized, they are very familiar with the hospital environment and provide personalized care tailored to meet the unique needs of patients. Hospitalists are available 24 hours a day.

While you are hospitalized, the hospitalist team will partner with your primary care doctor and other medical specialists involved in your care during your stay. Because these professionals are based in the hospital, they can promptly follow up on diagnostic tests and adjust your treatment as necessary. Hospitalists are on site, easy to reach in an emergency, and are available to personally talk with you and your family about your care at any time.

The hospitalist team will notify your doctor’s office and send a summary of your stay at the hospital to your main doctor. When you are discharged from the hospital, your primary care physician will resume management of your medical care.

CommonSpirit Health hospitals support the rights of all patients across the lifespan including geriatric, adult, adolescent, pediatric, infant, and neonatal populations. These rights may be exercised through the patient individually or through their authorized surrogate decision maker.

You have the right to. . .

1. Be informed of your patient rights in advance of receiving or discontinuing care when possible.
2. Receive care, treatment, and visitation regardless of disability, national origin, culture, age, color, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation. No one is denied examination or treatment of an emergency medical condition because of their source of payment.
3. Give informed consent for all treatment, procedures, and/or production of recordings, films or other images when used for other than identification, diagnosis, or treatment.
4. Be informed of your health status/prognosis, including unanticipated outcomes of care and the treatment and services related to serious preventable adverse events.
5. Participate in all areas of your care plan, treatment, care decisions, and discharge plan.
6. Receive appropriate assessment and prompt management of your pain.
7. Be treated with respect and dignity.
8. Experience personal privacy, comfort, and security to the extent possible during your stay.
9. Be free from restraints or seclusion imposed as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
10. Experience confidentiality of all communication and clinical records related to your care. You will receive a copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices to inform you how your personal medical information can be used and disclosed, and your rights related to your medical information.
11. Have access to telephone calls, mail, and other communication devices. Any restrictions to access will be discussed with you, and you will be involved in the decision when possible or appropriate.
12. Choose a “visitor” who may visit you, including but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same‐sex domestic partner), another family member, or a friend, and you have the right to withdraw or deny such choice at any time. You also have the right to select an identified “support person” who can make visitation decisions should you become incapacitated.
13. If hospitalized, have the right to designate at least one post‐discharge caregiver who will assist you with basic tasks following your discharge and, along with you or your authorized surrogate decision maker, provide consultation on your discharge plan. Designating a post‐discharge caregiver does not mean the person you have designated is obligated to care for you.
14. Be communicated with in a manner you can understand which takes into account your age, language, understanding and ability including, but not limited to, access to interpreter services and communication aides, at no cost. Such communication will include communication with your companion.
15. Have access to pastoral/spiritual care.
16. Receive care in a safe setting.
17. Be free from all forms of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, or exploitation.
18. Have access to protective services (e.g., guardianship, advocacy services, and child/adult protective services).
19. Request medically necessary and appropriate care and treatment.
20. Refuse any drug, test, procedure, or treatment and be informed of the medical consequences of such a decision.
21. Consent to or refuse to participate in teaching programs, research, experimental programs, and/or clinical trials.
22. Receive information about advance directives. Set up or provide advance directives and have them followed. Designate an authorized surrogate decisionmaker as permitted by law and as needed.
23. Participate in decision‐making regarding ethical issues, personal values, or beliefs.
24. If hospitalized, have a family member or representative of your choice and your physician promptly notified of your admission to the hospital, upon request.
25. Know the names, professional status, and experience of your caregivers.
26. Have access to your medical records within a reasonable timeframe.
27. Be examined, treated, and if necessary, transferred to another facility if you have an emergency medical condition or are in labor, regardless of your ability to pay.
28. Request and receive, prior to the initiation of non‐emergent care or treatment, the charges (or estimate of charges) for routine, usual, and customary services and any co‐payment, deductible, or non‐covered charges, as well as the facility’s general billing procedures including receipt and explanation of an itemized bill. This right is honored regardless of the source(s) of payment.
29. Right to request that in-network providers perform all covered medical services. However, you may have to receive medical services from an out-of-network provider if an in-network provider is unavailable. When known, you have the right to be told if you are at an out-of-network location or if out-of-network providers are providing services. You have the right to be told what types of services you will be using that might be provided by an out-of-network provider.
30. Right to receive a “Colorado Surprise Billing Disclosure,” describing CommonSpirit Health’s “Surprise Billing” rights and obligations.
31. Be informed of the hospital’s complaint and grievance procedure and whom to contact to file a concern, complaint, or grievance. Note: If you have financial issues or questions, please contact CommonSpirit Consumer Operations at 303-486‐5400. Toll free: 800‐953‐0104
    1. Our priority is for you to have a positive patient experience. If your concerns are not being resolved with your immediate caregiver or the department manager or administrative staff, please call the patient care representative/advocate or access the hospital operator by dialing “0”.
    2. You may also contact The Health Facilities Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Office of Civil Rights directly regardless of whether you first used the hospital’s complaint and grievance process.

    The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

    4300 Cherry Creek Drive South

    Denver, CO 80222-1530

    Telephone: 303-692-2827

     

    The Kansas Department of Health and Environment

    1000 SW Jackson

    Topeka, Kansas 66612

    Telephone: 785-296-1500

     

    The Office for Civil Rights

    Department of Health and Human Services

    999 18th Street South Terrace, Suite 417

    Denver, Colorado 80202

    Telephone: 303-844-2024

    TDD: 303-844-3439

    Fax: 303-844-2025

     

    3. If you received care in a hospital, emergency department, home care or hospice and if after speaking with one of their representatives your complaint remains unresolved, you may contact The Joint Commission by mail to:

    Office of Quality and Patient Safety, The Joint Commission

    One Renaissance Boulevard, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

    Online to: www.jointcommission.org using the "Report a Patient Safety Event" link in the "Action Center" on the home page of the website.

    4. You also have the right to file a complaint with the appropriate oversight boards including the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, the Colorado Dental and Podiatry Boards and the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. For Kansas hospitals, this includes the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, the Kansas Board of Nursing, and the Kansas Office of Health Occupations Credentialing. Contact information will be provided by a hospital representative upon request.
    5. If you received care in one of our accredited mammography programs, and had a serious grievance* that you feel was not adequately addressed by the facility, you may fax, email or mail to:

    Director, Breast Imaging Accreditation Programs American College of Radiology: 1891 Preston

    White Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4397

*A serious grievance is defined by the FDA as "a report of a serious adverse event, which means an event that significantly compromises clinical outcomes or one for which a facility fails to take appropriate corrective action in a timely manner."

You have the responsibility to . . .

1. Ask questions and promptly voice concerns.
2. Give full and accurate information as it relates to your health, including prescription and non-prescription medications.
3. Report changes in your condition or symptoms, including pain, and request assistance of a member of the health care team.
4. Educate yourself. Learn about the medical tests that are being performed and understand your treatment plan.
5. Follow your recommended treatment plan.
6. Be considerate of other patients and staff.
7. Secure your valuables.
8. Follow facility rules and regulations.
9. Respect property that belongs to the facility or others.
10. Understand and honor financial obligations related to your care, including understanding your own insurance coverage. This includes an obligation to understand whether the services provided are considered in-network or out-of-network by my insurance, and to take all steps necessary to understand my insurance coverage.

First, talk with your nurse or doctor.

• If you do not feel comfortable talking with your care team, ask to speak with the assistant nurse manager, supervisor, or the administrative director on your patient care unit or in the department where you are receiving services. You may also ask to speak with a house administrative manager or hospital administrator. The house administrative manager can be reached 24/7 by dialing the hospital operator “0” and asking to speak with the house administrative manager.
• If our staff is unable to assist you in resolving your complaint, the patient representative may be contacted at 970-764-2136. You will receive a return call from the patient representative as soon as possible Monday through Friday to acknowledge receipt of your call.
• Please know that if you require interpreter or translator services to communicate your concern or complaint, those are available and can be arranged for you.
• The hospital encourages you to voice complaints and recommend changes freely without being subject to coercion, discrimination, reprisal, or unreasonable disruption of care.

If you are dissatisfied with the resolutions provided by hospital staff as described above, your complaint can be elevated to a grievance and an investigation into your concerns will be initiated by our patient representative. After this investigation has been completed, and we have received appropriate staff and management input, the patient representative will provide you with written notice of the hospital’s resolution of the grievance. The written notice will include steps taken on your behalf to investigate the grievance, results of the grievance process, the date of completion and the appropriate hospital contact person.