When your physician decides you are ready to leave the hospital, a discharge order will be written. You may want to make arrangements with a family member or friend to help you when it is time to go home. Some important things to remember include:
Personal belongings
Collect all of your belongings and double-check closets and drawers. If you have anything stored in the hospital safe, inform your nurse or call the Security Office ext. 6100 (Capital Health Regional Medical Center) or ext. 4100 (Hopewell).
Discharge instructions
Your physician and your nurse will give you instructions about post-hospital care. If you have questions about your diet, activities or other matters, or are not comfortable with your discharge instructions, please be sure to ask at this time.
Escort service
When you are ready to be discharged, a member of the hospital staff will escort you to the exit and help you into the car.
Post hospital care
Nursing staff, social workers, and case managers try to make your post-hospital care go as smoothly as possible.
Case managers and social workers are available to help plan for:
- Home health care services
- Post acute care facilities
- Referral for medical equipment in the home
Most of these services will be covered by your insurance. However, you will be billed by the agency or facility for any services not covered. For assistance in determining which fits your situation, call the Capital Health Quality & Resource Management Department at ext. 6080 (Capital Health Regional Medical Center) or ext. 4336 (Hopewell).
Lifeline
Lifeline is a 24-hour emergency response system for the homebound elderly or handicapped. For information, call (800) 447-6467.
Pacemaker Clinic
The Pacemaker Clinic is a bimonthly, at-home monitoring by telephone to detect any pacemaker malfunction. For more information, call ext. 4149.
Counseling services
Capital Health offers counseling services to help patients and their families resolve problems caused by illness, hospitalization and related social and emotional concerns. Our professional staff will talk with you about these problems, help you identify possible solutions and refer you to appropriate resources.
Our staff is supportive and professionally trained. With you and your physician’s approval, they will make referrals to other agencies on your behalf.
For more information call Quality & Resource Management at ext. 6080 (Capital Health Regional Medical Center) or ext. 4336 (Hopewell).
Patient survey
Approximately four weeks after discharge, you may be selected to receive a survey from the company Capital Health uses to conduct patient surveys. This survey will ask you questions about the care you received while you were a patient here. Your comments about Capital Health are important and will help us serve you better. We appreciate the time you take to answer the survey.