Preparing for Your Hospital Stay

Before Your Admission

Insurance

Insurance plans vary widely in their coverage and requirements for notification of in-hospital care. If you have any insurance-related questions before you arrive, please call Admission Services at (773) 702-6233.

Housing

If you need help arranging housing for your family, call Patient Special Services at (773) 702-6000 or Social Services at (773) 702-1807. Likewise, the Hospitals contracts discounts at several area hotels.

Private Room

If you wish to have a private room, we ask that you make arrangements in advance. Because the extra cost of a private room is not covered by insurance, we must also ask that you arrange for payment in advance. While we can’t guarantee that we will have a private room available for you, we will make every effort to accommodate your request.

PLEASE NOTE: Patients in private rooms may have one family member spend the night each night they are hospitalized. Overnight visitors are not allowed in shared rooms that have more than one patient.

Bringing What You Need for Admission

The first three items are “musts” for everyone. The remaining items may or may not be necessary, depending on your individual situation. It is vitally important that you bring everything necessary with you.

• Social security number
• Insurance card, including the insurer’s name and address and the patient’s policy number
• Cash, check, or major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express) to pay for services not covered by insurance (Please call (773) 702-6233 if you have questions.)
• Your employer’s name, address, and phone number--if you are covered by traditional insurance or managed care (HMO or PPO) provided by that employer
• Your spouse’s employer’s name, address, and phone number--if you are covered by traditional insurance or managed care (HMO or PPO) provided by your spouse’s employer
• Managed Care Referral Authorization--if you are covered by an HMO or POS plan and it is required
• Medicare or Medicaid card, plus the date of your spouse’s retirement if that applies to you
• Advance Directive (living will)
• Name, address, and phone number of your referring physician if you were referred here

Bringing What You Need for Your Stay

To help assure a comfortable hospital stay, the items you may wish to bring with you include:

• Personal toiletries, such as shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrush
• Bathrobe and slippers or socks
• Medications you take on a regular basis. Please write your name on the containers and inform your nurse. Be sure to take these medications home with you.
• Glasses, dentures, hearing aid, or other assistive devices you may need. Please ask the nurse for a container to protect these items. Please label these and other personal items with your name if possible.
• Any instructions your physician may have provided
• Cash to purchase a magazine, snack, and/or debit card for long distance calls (local calls are free)

What Not to Bring

As you probably know, the University of Chicago Hospitals is a big and busy place. It can be difficult to keep track of personal items here. We are sorry that the Hospitals cannot be responsible for personal items, and ask you NOT to bring:

• Jewelry or other valuables
• A lot of money or extra credit cards
• Hair dryer, electric shaver, or other electrical appliances (If you need assistance shaving, ask your nurse or another patient care staff member.)
• Computer
• Electronic calendar/appointment book

Creating an Advance Directive

You have the right to make informed decisions about your healthcare, including the right to refuse treatment offered to you. You may also give directions, in advance, about your wishes for healthcare should the time come when you cannot communicate your wishes to others.

If you have an advance directive, such as a living will or durable power of attorney for healthcare, please bring it with you at the time of admission. If you do not have an advance directive and wish to create one, please look for the booklet Planning for Your Medical Care in your admissions packet when you arrive. If you do not receive this booklet in your admissions packet, please contact Admission Services at (773) 702-6233 and ask them to send it to you.

Getting to the Hospitals

There are many ways to get to the University of Chicago Hospitals. Please visit our directions section for more specific details.

Entering the Hospitals

Patients should enter the Hospitals through the Bernard A. Mitchell Hospital entrance on Maryland Avenue (the closest entrance to 58th Street). Mitchell Hospital’s doors are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Take the elevator from the ground level up to the lobby on the second floor. If you self-park in the garage, you may walk through the enclosed pedestrian bridge which links the garage second floor to Mitchell Hospital’s second floor.

Checking into the Hospitals

Please stop at the Information Desk at the entrance for directions to Admission Services. You need to stop at Admission Services in room TS-200, located off the second floor lobby, to register. Admission Services is open around the clock, year round.

Patient Meals

Most patients receive At Your Request Room Service Dining®, a special food service program that allows patients to order meals from an extensive menu at times when they want to eat.

Making Phone Calls Inside the Hospitals

If you are calling inside the Hospitals, dial the last five digits of the number, for example, 2-XXXX instead of (773) 702-XXXX.

Receiving Phone Calls and Having Visitors

If you check the privacy box on your admission form or tell the person admitting you that you wish your information to be keep private, you will not be listed on the University of Chicago Hospitals system. This means that people telephoning you from outside the Hospitals will be told by the operator that you are not on record and they cannot be connected to your room. It will also mean that visitors requesting to see you will be told that there is no listing for a patient by your name.

If you wish to receive phone calls and visitors, do NOT check the privacy box on your admission form.

Privacy Issues

Because of new laws to protect patient privacy, staff at the Hospitals cannot release any information about you to your family and friends without your permission. When you are being admitted, a staff member will write down your access code on a blue, business-size card. Give this access code to the people you want to be able to obtain information about you. When someone provides a Hospitals staff member with your access code, the staff member can provide that person with information about your condition.

More Information

• Preparing for Your Appointment
• Preparing for Your Surgery or Procedure
• Preparing for Your Hospital Stay
• Patient Meals
• Things to Consider
• Resources for Your Visit