Patients Rights and Responsibilities

PROVISION OF CARE

• Grant Memorial Hospital does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity), sexual orientation, age or disability. Patients and/or representative, and/or support person should seek assistance if they feel they encounter discrimination by contacting the Customer Service Coordinator at 304-257-5805.
  
  Spanish: Grant Memorial Hospital cumple con las leyes federales de derechos civiles aplicables y no discrimina por motivos de raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o sexo.
  ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-304-257-1026 (TDD: 1-304-257-4009).
  
  Chinese: Grant Memorial Hospital 遵守適用的聯邦民權法律規定，不因種族、膚色、民族血統、年齡、殘障或性別而歧視任何人。
  注意：如果您使用繁體中文，您可以免費獲得語言援助服務。請致電 1-304-257-1026（TDD: 1-304-257-4009) 。
  
• The patient has the right to reasonable access to care, treatment and services. The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care, to include consideration of psychosocial, spiritual and cultural variables that influence the perceptions of illness.
  
• The patient has the right to receive adequate information about the person(s) responsible for the delivery of their care, treatment, and services.
  
• The patient has the right to be free from all forms of mental, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
  
• The patient has the right to expect that, within its capacity, the hospital will make a reasonable response to the request of a patient for services. The hospital must provide evaluation, service and/or referral as indicated by the urgency of the care. When medically permissible, a patient may be transferred to another facility only after another facility has accepted the patient and the patient has received complete information and explanation concerning the need for transfer as well as the benefits and risks associated with it.
• The patient has the right to receive care, treatment and services in an environment that is safe.
  
• The patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care after discharge, including information on continuing health care requirements and names and contact information for physicians and others who can provide ongoing care.
  
• The patient/family has the right, in collaboration with the physician, to be informed about and to make decisions involving his/her health care, including the right of the patient to accept medical care or to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal.
  
• The patient or his/her designated representative has the right to participate in the consideration of ethical issues that arise in his/her care.
  
• The patient has the right to be advised if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation affecting his/her care of treatment. The patient has the right to refuse to participate in such research projects.
  
• The patient has the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.
  
• The patient has the right to be involved in all aspects of their care, treatment and services including pain management.
  
• The patient has the right to the freedom from the use of restraints unless clinically required.
  
• The patient has the right to file a grievance/complaint if the patient is not pleased with any aspect of their care and treatment. Grievance/complaints can be made with the Customer Service Coordinator, Unit Manager or the CEO. If the patient does not feel comfortable making the grievance/complaint to hospital personnel, the patient can report their concerns directly to the:
  
  Office of Health Facility Licensure and CertificationorUS Department of Health and Human Services408 Leon Sullivan 200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509 F, HHH BuildingCharleston, WV 25301-1713 Washington, DC 20201Telephone: 1-304-558-0050 1-800-368-1019 or 1-800-537-7697Fax: 1-304-558-2515 Electronic: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf

PROVISIONS OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

• The patient has the right to obtain from physicians complete information, in comprehensible terms, concerning his/her diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, alternatives for care or treatment, and the names of professionals responsible for his/her care. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information should be made available to an appropriate person on his/her behalf.
  
• The patient has the right to receive from his/her physician, information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure and/or treatment. Except in emergencies such information for informed consent should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the specific procedures and/or treatment, the medically significant risks involved, alternatives, and the probable limitation during the recovery period.

PROVISIONS OF HOSPITAL INFORMATION

• The patient has the right to examine and receive an explanation of his/her bill regardless of the source of payment.
  
• The patient has the right to obtain information relevant to his/her care, or any relationship between the hospital and other health care and educational institutions, as well as on the existence of any professional relationships among individuals, by name, who are treating them.
  
• The patient has the right to information at the time of admission about the Hospital’s Patient’s Rights policy.
  
• The patient has the right to obtain information from the Hospital with regard to the Hospital’s and the state’s mechanism for the initiation, review and resolution of complaints concerning the quality of care received.
  
• The patient has the right to obtain information from the Hospital as to how he/she can formulate advance directives and to appoint a health care agent to make health care decisions on his/her behalf to the extent permitted by law.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PATIENT RECORDS

• The patient has the right to security, personal privacy and confidentiality of information concerning his/her own medical care program. Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment, and all communications are confidential and should be conducted discreetly. Those not directly involved in the care of the patient must have his/her permission to be present.
  
• The patient has the right to the confidentiality of his/her medical records and to have access to information contained in his/her medical records within a reasonable time frame. The hospital will not “frustrate the legitimate efforts” of the patient to gain access to their own medical records and will actively seek to meet these request within the limits of the law.

PATIENT AND FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES

Hospital patients and their families also have responsibilities while in the hospital, including the following:

Provision of Information: The patient/family is responsible for providing, to the best of their knowledge, accurate and complete information about present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medication, changes in conditions, and other matters relating to the patient’s health.

Compliance with Instruction: The patient / family are responsible for following the treatment plan developed with the practitioner and should understand that noncompliance could affect outcome. While the plan is being developed, the patient / family should express any concerns regarding ability to carry out the proposed course of treatment. Every effort should be made to adapt the treatment plan to the patient’s specific needs and limitations.

Refusal of Treatment: The patient / family are responsible for the outcomes if treatment is refused or the plan of treatment if not followed.

Adhering to Hospital Rules and Regulations: The patient / family are responsible for following the hospital’s rules and regulations as detailed in the admission packet and as posted on hospital signage.

Showing Respect and Consideration: The patient / family are responsible for being considerate of the rights of other patients and of hospital personnel. This includes controlling personal noise and distractions. Visitors / patients may not smoke in the hospital or on the hospital campus.

Visitation Policy: Grant Memorial Hospital allows one support person, family member, friend or other individual to be present with the patient for emotional support during the course of hospital stay or outpatient visit. Grant Memorial will not necessarily restrict patient visitation but will set reasonable visiting hours. At times, however, there may be a clinically reasonable basis to do so. This may include but is not limited to: Infection control issues, interfering with the care of other patients, existing court order restricting contact, disruptive, threatening or violent behavior of any kind, other patient’s need for rest and privacy and limiting the number of visitors present due to overcrowding. Visiting hours for acute inpatient rooms and observation patients are 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily. Long term care residents may receive visitors at any time however, staff may restrict visit if medically necessary. Ambulatory patients may also visit with guests in the waiting rooms located on each nursing unit or lobby areas. No more than 2 guests should be in a patient room at one time. At the RN or physician discretion, an overnight visitor (same gender if semi-private room) may be allowed to stay with the patient. Overnight visitors are not permitted to stay in the waiting rooms or lobby areas. Children under the age of 18 are prohibited from staying overnight with the patient. Children under 12 are discouraged from visiting the hospital and must be accompanied at all times by someone over 18 years of age. In some instances, it is necessary to restrict access to diagnostic and therapeutic procedure areas for health and safety reason. If staff decide to restrict visitation, the patient will receive an explanation. When possible, the patient is included in the decision. Special restrictions apply to visitors in the Family Maternity Unit (presented to patient upon admission), this allows the patient to rest and new families to bond. Restrictions also apply to the Special Care Unit, restrictions are posted. All other visitors are permitted on the nursing units during published visiting hours for that unit.

Safety: Grant Memorial Hospital wishes to provide a safe environment for performing health care services thus, I consent to the search for and removal of any items which GMH deems unsafe, illegal, dangerous or inconsistent with my ongoing care.