Your Hospital Visit - Glens Falls Hospital

Preparing For Your Visit to Glens Falls Hospital

What to Bring

While we provide you with nearly everything you will need during your stay, it can be helpful to bring the following items:

Insurance cards and information
A list of current medications, with dosage and timing information, including over-the counter medicine, supplemental or herbal treatments. Please do not bring any medications with you to the hospital. All medicines you take in the hospital need to be prescribed, filled, and given to you by hospital staff.

Personal care items such as contact lenses, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dentures can be stored in your bedside stand. New York State Department of Health regulations prohibit the use of patient-owned electrical devices, such as hair dryers and electric razors, in the hospital. Some battery-operated options may be used with permission from your nurse.

While we are committed to ensuring a safe environment, we are not responsible for your personal belongings. Please leave valuables, including jewelry and large amounts of cash, at home. If you are unable to, please ask a staff member to connect you with Security, who can secure your valuables until discharge.

Documenting Your Wishes

Advance directives are documents that outline your wishes to receive or refuse certain kinds of medical care if you are unable to express them. Completing and signing an advance directive can help ensure that your medical providers know your choices. Please keep in mind you can always change and update your advance directives, and should bring them to all hospital visits to ensure the most current is on file.

Directives can include:

Living Will: Instructions on the type of life-prolonging medical care you would wish to accept or refuse
Health Care Proxy: Names an agent who can make medical decisions for you if you are unable
Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment: Outlines your Do Not Resuscitate and Do Not Attempt CPR orders

To learn more about advance care planning, receive guidance, or request forms, please contact our Patient Experience team at 518-926-3450.

Information about different advance directives is also available through the New York State Department of Health.

During Your Stay

A Commitment to Quality & Safety

We are accredited by both the Joint Commission and the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care for meeting or exceeding nationally recognized quality and safety standards.

To further ensure your safety, we will:

Ask frequent questions about your illness and other health care related issues and document the answers in your chart as a way of communicating to all members of your health care team
Use two identifiers: an ID band, as well as asking you to verify your name and date of birth before the start of your treatment
Carry out pre-procedure checks, which include review of your records and test results, and verification of your name and date of birth, the procedure you are having and the exact site of the procedure
Assess your risk of falling and implement prevention if needed
Ensure that you are on the right medication upon admission and after discharge

We urge you to ask questions if anything is unclear to you. Report any concerns you have about your care or safety right away so that we can help you.

Please speak with your nurse or nursing supervisor if you have any questions or concerns about your care. If your issue still is not resolved, please contact the Patient Experience Department at 518-926-3450 or [email protected].

Ethics Consultation

Sometimes a health care choice can involve an ethical concern—such as a wish to refuse life-saving treatment or a disagreement over advance directives. Our Ethics Committee can help you and your support people navigate challenging decisions. Ethical concerns can be discussed with your care team at any time, or you can contact the Patient Experience team Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 518-926-3450.

Tobacco-Free Facility

New York State law strictly prohibits smoking anywhere on hospital grounds, and Glens Falls Hospital maintains a tobacco-free environment. Ask your health care provider about resources to help you quit smoking.

Electronic Prescriptions

New York State law requires that all providers, including Albany Med Health System hospitals and our outpatient offices, electronically prescribe all medications, including controlled substances. Prescriptions will be securely sent to your pharmacy electronically.

Any pharmacy within a chain can fill or refill your prescription even if it was sent to a different location.
Your medication should not be delayed. Please ask your pharmacist to contact Glens Falls Hospital should any issue arise.

Communication Services

If translation services are needed, you will receive our Video Remote Interpreting devices. These are available for languages other than English, including American Sign Language. More information is available through the Patient Experience Office at 518-926-3450 or after hours asking for the nursing supervisor.

For patients with hearing impairments, pocket talkers are available upon request. For patients with visual impairments, auditory recordings and large print copies of Transition of Care summaries are available.

Visitation Guidelines

Visiting hours are subject to change based on community infections and hospitalizations. Any restrictions or limitations to visitation will be based on patient consent or clinical need. New York State Department of Health may also issue specific guidelines and precautions, particularly during flu season.

Visitors are asked to observe Quiet Times daily from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. to allow for rest and recuperation.

Glens Falls Hospital encourages the use of virtual visitation, and will provide iPads to those interested. For more information, please contact Patient Experience at 518-926-3450.

To ensure the safety and security of all patients, visitors, and staff, all visitors are greeted by Security at all entrances, and asked for photo ID. They will then be issued a visitor badge to allow access. Visitors are advised:

Glens Falls Hospital maintains a smoke-free campus.
All visitors are asked to wash their hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after visiting patients.
Do not use bathrooms in patient rooms – staff can direct you to the nearest public restroom.
Firearms and other weapons are not permitted on hospital property, except in the case of on-duty law enforcement.

Patients have the right to choose and prioritize visitors, and choose a support person to be present throughout their stay, unless it impacts patient health or safety.

For Your Convenience

Going Home

Care Management

The Glens Falls Hospital Care Management Department’s case managers and social workers ensure patients receive medically appropriate services during and after hospitalization. Our goal is a seamless transition to the next level of care, whether post-acute rehabilitation or home. If you have questions about the discharge planning process or wish to speak to your case manager, please ask your nurse.

Post-Discharge Follow-Up

Your Glens Falls Hospital team may reach out within 48 to 72 hours of being discharged. One of our nurses or other staff members will confirm you:

Understand your discharge instructions
Made follow-up appointments
Filled any prescriptions

They will also answer any questions you may have.

Feedback

Once you leave our care, we will seek your feedback through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. This survey is a tool to measure and report patient satisfaction. It is made up of questions on key care topics such as:

Doctor and nurse communication
Medicine and discharge information
Staff responsiveness
Overall quality of the hospital environment

Inpatients may receive a survey from Press Ganey through the mail, email, or text message.

Please consider completing these surveys. The results help us know what we are doing right and areas we can improve.