Patient Information

Preparing for Your Visit/Stay

As a patient, you are at the core of your healthcare at NVRH. Regardless of your healthcare or wellness need, we are committed to treating professionally and with special attention to your comfort and privacy. To help ensure a smooth admission process, we recommend that you bring the following items with you:

Your insurance identification card, photo ID/driver’s license and Medicare or Medicaid card.
A list of all medications you are currently taking, as well as any food or medication allergies or environmental sensitivities you may have.
A copy of your Advance Directives, such as a living will, advance health care directives or power-of-attorney for health care, if you have one.

Preparing for Your Visit/Stay

Admission Process

During the admission process, you will be asked to sign papers which allow the hospital to bill your insurance company and show your willingness to receive treatment and, when necessary, be admitted as an inpatient.

Obstetric Admission Process
Obstetric patients may pre-register, but must still check in at the Access Department for all lab tests and those outpatient services not associated with labor, as well as when arriving when labor begins.

Hospital Directory
Your name is added to the hospital’s patient directory upon admission to NVRH unless otherwise requested. Directories are available in the Access Department (near the ER entrance) and at the information desk in the main lobby. Being on the directory allows you to receive phone calls, visitors, flowers, and mail. If a caller or visitor does not identify you by name, no information is given out.

Religious Preference
Unless otherwise requested, your religious preference may be provided to ministers of the faith you designate. Area clergy are permitted access to a list of patients who share their religious affiliation. The NVRH Chaplain is permitted access to the directory of all patients. If you want to be included on your clergy’s list, please identify your religion upon admission.

You have the right to remain anonymous and request that no information be given to anyone. During the registration process, you will be given the option to opt off the “clergy directory” or the “family and friends directory” or both. If you choose to opt out of the family directory you will not receive calls, flowers, visitors, etc.

During Your Stay

Call Button
A call button is located on each bed to allow you to reach a nursing staff member when you need assistance.

Room Temperature
To be most comfortable, your room temperature can be adjusted. Please let your nurse know, and he/she will have our maintenance department adjust the temperature.

Telephone Calls
Your room is equipped with telephone service for local calls (obtained by dialing “9” for an outside line.) To call outside the local area, please dial “0” for assistance. You are also able to receive incoming calls in your room. You phone has a direct-dial number located on the plastic cardholder next to your bed. If necessary, family and friends may dial the NVRH switchboard at 748-8141, and the operator will direct calls to your room.

Mail and Flowers
Mail and flowers are delivered daily. Any mail received after you have been discharged will be forwarded to the address listed on your registration form.

Meals and Nutrition
Proper nutrition is an essential part of the healing process. A dietitian will work with your physician and healthcare team to ensure that any special dietary needs or preference you may have will be met.

If you have been prescribed a special diet, please check with your physician or nurse before eating food not on your hospital plan, or not prepared in the hospital kitchen. Your nurse will communicate any special food requests to the Food Service Department.

A registered dietitian is available to see all patients and routinely visits patients with special dietary needs. Patients may also see the dietitian on an outpatient basis. To make an outpatient nutrition counseling appointment, please call (802) 748-7433.

Newspapers
USA Today and the Caledonian Record are available. The Caledonian-Record can be purchased during the day at the Information Desk in the main lobby, and after hours, the Caledonian-Record may be obtained at the switchboard, located at the outpatient entrance to the hospital near the ER.

ATM
An Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is located at the front entrance of the hospital.

Interpreter/Hearing Impaired Services
Interpreter/Hearing Impaired Services are available. If need a foreign language or sign language interpreter, please let a member of our staff know as soon as possible. AT&T Language Line services are available on request. We provide closed-caption accessibility for the hearing impaired. Please dial 711 for effortless communication with people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or deaf-blind. For more information, please contact the Department of Public Service: psd.consumer@vermont.gov, 800-622-4496 (voice) or visit www.vermontrelay.com.

Going Home

Planning for your discharge takes a team, with your voice and wellbeing at its core. We seek to make the process as seamless and easy as possible for you and your caregiver(s).

Before discharge, your healthcare team will provide instruction on how to care for yourself at home.
At time of discharge, your doctor and a nurse will review your plan of care for home and answer any questions you and your caregiver may have.
Care managers will assist you in making any special living arrangements, obtaining necessary medical equipment, medical or other referrals, or with other assistance as needed.
Prescriptions may be filled at area pharmacies. The NVRH inpatient pharmacy is not able to fill your prescriptions.
Ask your nurse what instructions you should give your driver about the location and time to meet you when you are discharged. Our intent is to make your transition from hospital to home as easy as possible.
When you arrive home, please feel free to contact a member of your healthcare team with any questions or concerns.

Meals and Nutrition

Proper nutrition during recovery is another essential part of the healing process. A dietitian will work with your physician to ensure that any special dietary needs you may have will be met. The food service staff pays special attention to thequality of the meals they provide and tries to accommodate individual tastes.

NVRH participates in a national healthy food initiative and has taken the Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge.

Infection Prevention

Infections continue to be a significant healthcare challenge. Patients and healthcare workers alike are at risk for care-related infections. Infection prevention is a critical component of safe, quality health care.

The goals of the NVRH Infection Prevention and Control Program are:

To protect our patients, visitors and customers from healthcare associated infections
To protect our healthcare workers from healthcare associated infections
To accomplish goals 1 and 2 using evidence based best practices

The NVRH Infection Prevention and Control Program is responsible for establishing and providing policies, procedures and guidelines that meet regulatory, federal, state, and local regulations. These policies, procedures and guidelines are based upon scientifically based knowledge endorsed by The Centers for Disease Control Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (CDC- HICPAC), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), the Joint Commission, and other experts in infection prevention.

The Infection Prevention program conducts infection surveillance, provides education to staff, patients and visitors, provides data to guide our Infection Prevention efforts, reviews new developments in the science of infection prevention, and updates our practices as appropriate.

Contact Information:
Patricia Launer, RN, CPHQ
Infection Preventionist & Quality Services
748-7380

Medical Records

The NVRH commitment to confidentiality means that the Health Information Management (formerly Medical Records) Department maintains accurate and up-to-date information on all patients with the utmost regard for patient privacy.

NVRH is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your protected health information. Except as specifically authorized by law, you have the right to determine the information which we may release about you.

Our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we may use and disclose your protected health information (PHI for short) to carry out treatment, payment, or health operations and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. It also describes your rights to access and control your protected health information.

Medical information is entered directly into the hospital computer system, so that your record contains all the information necessary to keep your health care team up-to-date on the status of your treatment plan.

If you need to obtain a copy of your medical record contact the Health Information Management Department, (802) 748-7412.

KEY PHONE NUMBERS

Main Line (Switchboard) 802-748-8141
Office of the CEO 802-748-7400
Billing & Financial Services 802-748-7518
Care Management 802-748-7367
Chaplain 802-748-7473

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