After Your Stay

Good Samaritan Hospital (GSH) provides ongoing care during and after your hospital stay. After your stay, your GSH physician will help arrange your special needs, home care, and more.

Going Home

During your stay, we work with you, your doctor, and your care providers to plan for a smooth discharge. We will do our best to make sure that when it is time for you to leave, you feel ready. When your doctor(s) and our case management team decide that your care needs can be met outside the hospital, your doctor will prepare discharge orders and discuss your dismissal with you.

We understand you may be anxious to go home, but there are some things we must finish before you can leave that may take some time. Please talk with your nurse before making any transportation arrangements.

Important Information to Review With Your Doctor

When you are discharged home, ask your doctor to explain your plan of care for you to follow at home.

• Make sure you understand your medications and what activity and eating plan you are to follow.
• Please ask questions. We want you to be safe at home too.
• Make sure you understand when to call your doctor if you have concerns following your discharge from the hospital.
• We encourage you to understand the answers to the following questions:
  • What challenges could I face because of my health problem?
  • What do I need to do?
  • Why is it important for me to do this?

Special Needs

The Case Managers and Social Services staff are available to help you plan for any special care you may require after you leave the hospital. Social workers can assist you in making the necessary arrangements for additional nursing care, therapy, or special medical equipment for your home. Referrals for counseling and support for personal, family, or financial problems are also available. If you would like to see a member of the Social Services staff, you may call extension 5290 on weekends, or ask your nurse to contact the Integrated Care Management unit staff on weekdays. A case manager is available in the Emergency Department and may be reached at extension 5268.

Home Health Program

If you need care after you go home, GSH’s provider of choice is Fidelity Health Services. However, we can arrange for home health services with an agency of your choice as your clinical and insurance needs.

Fidelity offers a full range of home care
Fidelity Health Care offers a comprehensive range of home health care services because they understand that recovery does not end with your discharge from the hospital.

Fidelity’s services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and include:

• RNs, LPNs, and home care aides
• Rehabilitation therapists
• Infusion therapy
• Private duty and homemakers
• Oxygen therapy
• Home care equipment

Fidelity’s clinicians are experienced professionals trained to meet the specific needs of each individual patient in the comfort of your own home. Fidelity also offers disease management programs for people with congestive heart failure, respiratory disease, and diabetes.

The following services are available and may be covered by your insurance:

• Nursing care
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
• Home health aides
• Medical social workers
• Mother/baby follow-up visits

If you would like to talk to a case manager about home care, call extension 4652 on weekdays or extension 5290 on weekends.

Patient Education

During your stay, we will offer you opportunities to learn as much as possible about how to take care of yourself at home and what services you can take advantage of in the community. We have brochures, booklets, and books about diabetes, COPD, stopping smoking, and more. If you want information about a topic, ask your nurse.

Once your doctor has signed the orders so you can leave, a nurse will review your instructions with you and your family for going home and answer any questions you have.

Additional Resources

You’ll find health-related information from A to Z in our online A.D.A.M. Health Illustrated Encyclopedia.

Browse our CareGuides Step-By-Step Condition Guides for detailed information on specific conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma.

Check our listings of Programs and Events for health and wellness classes and events sponsored by Premier Health.

Prescriptions for Going Home

The Samaritan Pharmacy is a full-service pharmacy that can have your prescriptions filled for you before you leave. If you would like this service, tell your nurse and give her your insurance card. The nurse will fax your prescription(s) and a copy of your insurance card to the pharmacy. The pharmacy will fill the prescription within 1 hour, and it will be ready for pick-up and payment as you leave the hospital. (Medications for your use at home may not be charged to your hospital bill.)

For additional information, see Tips for Managing Your Medication.