About Your Stay

Welcome to Prowers Medical Center! We are pleased that you have chosen us for your healthcare needs and we are dedicated to providing you with high quality care. Our staff is a part of the community, helping you feel right at home.

Hospital Admission

Your admission to Prowers Medical Center was requested by your physician who is a member of the hospital medical staff. Whenever possible, we would like to get the preliminary information needed for your admission. If at times the questions seem unnecessary, we ask for your patience. Many of our questions are required by law for vital records, and others are of importance to the various departments of the hospital which will be serving you. Please be assured that this information will be held in strict confidence.

Accommodations During Your Stay

Your hospital room is equipped to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Your bed is electrically equipped to adjust to the most comfortable position, and provides within reach access to a nurse call system, television, remote and reading light. Bed rails may be used as necessary to protect you during your stay. We encourage the use of side rails especially at night. Family involvement plays a vital role in your healing process, so each room is beautifully designed with ample space, including a built-in window bench that serves as a bed for family members desiring to stay overnight. We will do our best to honor your preference, but there may be times when alternate arrangements may be necessary due to high occupancy, doctor’s orders, or other special reasons. Because the hospital’s primary responsibility is the medical care of patients, it may also be necessary to move you to a different room after you are hospitalized. We ask for your understanding.

Tobacco-free Campus

Prowers Medical Center is committed to providing a safe and tobacco-free environment for you, your visitors and hospital team members. Smoking and/or the use of tobacco products are not permitted on the hospital campus. You, family members and visitors may not use tobacco while guests of Prowers Medical Center. Your provider may order smoking cessation aids while you are in the hospital. Ask the staff if you need these aids.

Calling Your Nurse

When you need assistance, please push the nurse call button that is located on both sides of your bed rails. Simply push the button and someone will either speak to you through the speaker or will come directly to your room to assist you.

Room Temperature

Your room temperature can be adjusted based on your preference. The thermostat is located in your room on the wall beside your bed. If you need assistance, please ask your nurse. The heating/cooling system is monitored by our Facilities Management Department and can be adjusted upon your request.

Telephone Use

Telephones are provided in all rooms for every patient. To make local calls, dial “9” plus the telephone number you wish to reach. To make long distance calls, dial “0” or the nurse’s station at extension 3600, and someone will assist you in completing your call. All long-distance calls can be placed by dialing “9” plus the telephone number you wish to reach.

A courtesy telephone is located in the surgery department waiting area and in the emergency department waiting area for use by visitors. A courtesy phone is also available in the main lobby.

Television/Internet

Color televisions are provided for your pleasure. A remote control is available for your convenience. The television can also be controlled by your nurse call control. We ask that you please be considerate of other patients by keeping the volume low.

Please leave the remote control and telephone in your room upon discharge. If they are removed after your stay you will receive a separate bill for those items.

Access to the Internet and email is available in every patient room. Please ask your nurse to contact Information Technology and they will accommodate you.

Mail and Flowers

All mail and flowers addressed to you will be delivered to your room. If you have letters you wish to have mailed, you may give them to your nurse who will be more than happy to mail them for you. You must provide postage. Mail received after your discharge will be forwarded to your home.

Valuables

You are strongly urged to leave large sums of money or valuables at home or send them home with your family or friends. Eye glasses, contact lenses, and dentures should be kept in protective containers. Denture containers are available at the nurses station upon request. The hospital will not be responsible for the loss or breakage of such items.

Discharge from the Hospital

Before you leave Prowers Medical Center, team members will meet with you and your family to determine your needs and preferences, including special equipment, nursing care or extended care you may need at home. Your nurse will assist you in gathering your belongings and transporting you to your car. If you experience difficulties with transportation, please notify your nurse.

Patient Satisfaction Survey

You may receive a survey or a phone call after you are discharged. If you appreciated your care from us, please tell us. We welcome your feedback, and by filling out the survey you help us be the best we can be.

Services Provided During Your Stay

Food Services

The Food Services Department is responsible for your nutritional needs. This is done in accordance with the diet order that is prescribed by your physician. An A la Carte menu is available for all diets including liquid diets. Our extensive restaurant style menu will be brought to you each day by food service personnel who can assist you with your selections. Please let us know if you have any food allergies or intolerances. You may choose to have your meals delivered at the normal times:
Breakfast – 7:30 a.m., Lunch – 11:30 a.m. – 1:10 p.m., Dinner – 5:30 p.m. OR you can choose what time you would like your meal served. We serve any time between 6:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

If you need a beverage or snack between meals and it is allowed on your prescribed diet, there are several items available in regular or sugar free. Just ask your nurse for assistance. We have a Registered Dietitian who can assist you with special dietary needs and provide diet instructions during your stay or upon discharge. We hope that your dining experience is VERY GOOD! If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact Food Services at extension 3823.

Dining Room Use

Guests are welcome to visit our cafeteria and eat in our dining room or take their tray to the patient room. Items are individually priced. Serving times are: Breakfast – 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. & 7:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Lunch – 11:30 a.m. – 1:20 p.m. The cafeteria is closed at dinner but food is available through the vending machines and fresh food machine stocked daily by our Food Services staff.

Vending Machines

Refreshments are available 24 hours a day in the vending machines located by Food Services and Facilities Management Departments. The Cold Food Machine is stocked daily by our Food Services Department with freshly prepared food from our cafeteria. A microwave and a toaster are also provided for your convenience. The snack machine includes chips, candy and other items.

Notary Services

Notary Public Services arrangements can be made upon your request.

Safety/Risk Management

This hospital has the required fire prevention and firefighting equipment. Our personnel are trained to act in any situation regarding a fire or emergency situation. While you are here, the hospital staff may have to practice a fire or disaster drill. Such drills are held to assure maximum safety for our patients. Please do not be disturbed if you hear or see evidence of such a drill in progress. If you have concerns please notify your nurse.

Visitation

Visits from family and friends play an important role in making your hospital stay more pleasant and in promoting your healing. With several exceptions, the patient controls who may visit and when the visitor(s) may come and go. As a patient, you may receive any visitor you choose. This can be a spouse, a domestic partner (including same-sex partners), another family member, a friend, or any other person you choose. (The New Beginnings Birth Center is subject to stricter security controls.)  Your support person may also exercise your Visitation Rights if you are unable to do so.

As a patient, you can grant, withdraw, and/or deny consent to any visitor at any time.

Prowers Medical Center shall not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny any visitation rights on the basis of:
Race
Color
National Origin
Religion
Gender Identity
Sexual Orientation
Disability

Prowers Medical Center shall ensure that all visitors have full and equal visitation rights, subject at all times to the patient’s right to deny or withdraw consent.

There may be times when your medical care provider or professional nursing staff may ask your visitors to limit or restrict visitation, in order to protect the  health, safety and/or welfare of yourself or others.

If at any time you feel a visitation limitation is unfair, you may appeal the decision to a member of the Senior Management Team or the Chief of Staff.

The hospital reserves the right to ask any visitor(s) whose conduct is disruptive or a nuisance to others to leave. Remember, visits should be enjoyed, not endured. The hospital may also limit visitation during epidemics.

To help protect your new addition to your family, provide for bonding of the new family, establish breastfeeding, and plenty of rest for the new mother, the New Beginnings Birth Center has the following visiting hours.  Visitors are encouraged to come between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm.  No children are allowed to visit unless they are a sibling to the new baby or are 16 years of age or older.

Financial Considerations

Charges and Payment

For smooth handling of charges and payments, please be prepared to provide the following:

  • Social security number

  • Birth date

  • Copy of insurance card

  • Insurance policy subscriber information and policy number

  • Name of your primary care physician

  • Current mailing address

  • Current telephone number

Prowers Medical Center will bill your insurance carrier(s) as a courtesy. However, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring timely and appropriate payment by your insurance carrier.

Patient Financial Services

If you anticipate difficulty concerning the financing of your hospitalization, we urge you to consult our Patient Financial Services department. If you do not have insurance, or if it is limited, the Prowers Medical Center Payment Policy will be applied. Our Patient Financial Counselor will meet with you before you are discharged to discuss your hospital bill and your annual deductible to determine whether you have met the deductible amount or if it is applicable.

Colorado Indigent Care Program

You may be eligible for financial assistance from the Colorado Indigent Care Program. This program provides discounts to qualified low-income Colorado residents for the cost of needed medical care. Please call our Financial Counselor for more information.

Medicare

If you are covered by Medicare, we will need a copy of your Medicare card to verify eligibility and process your Medicare claim. You should be aware that the Medicare program excludes payments for certain items and services. Deductibles and copayments are the responsibility of the patient.

Medicaid

If you are covered by Medicaid, we will need a copy of your Medicaid card. Medicaid also has payment limitations on a number of services and items.

Fees Not Covered

Your final bill will not include fees for professional charges of your physician, surgeon or any consulting physicians such as Pathologists, Radiologists and your personal physician. They will bill you separately.

Discharge Paperwork

Prior to your discharge from the hospital, you must be cleared through the Patient Financial Services Consultant to ensure that all appropriate paperwork and necessary documentation has been completed.

Medical Treatment Rights

Health Care Decisions

This section explains your rights to participate in health care decisions and how you can plan what should be done when you can’t speak for yourself. Although federal law requires us to give an adult over 18 years of age this information, the choice to have a medical directive is left up to you.

Making an Advance Directive

What happens if people become too sick to make their own medical decisions? Someone must decide when to start treatment, when not to start it, or when to stop it. Family members and doctors usually make decisions when the patient can’t. Sometimes they are not sure what is best. Sometimes they disagree. That’s when it would be good to know what the patient would have wanted and whom the patient would have wanted to make the decisions. That’s why it would be a good idea to talk with your family, close friends, and physicians about filling out an advance directive. Having one empowers you – if you’ve made your wishes clear, they’re more likely to be followed.

Living Wills

A “Living Will” is not the same as a “last will and testament”. It has nothing to do with what happens to your personal property or your estate after death. The purpose of a Living Will is to let us know in advance how long you want life support treatment to be provided for you if you ever have to be put on life support machines. This “Living Will” will tell your doctor and family how long you want treatment provided and when you want it stopped.

CPR Directive (“NO COR” or “NO CODE” or “DNR”)

A CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) directive tells your doctor what to do if your heart stops beating or you stop breathing. If you do not want CPR, a physician’s order must be written in your chart each time you are admitted. If you do want CPR, it will be automatically given to you, if necessary, while you are a patient.

Durable Power of Attorney

“A Medical Durable Power of Attorney” is not a “power of attorney” for business or personal financial matters. It is only about your health care. In this kind of document, you can state what types of medical treatment you want to have or don’t want to have. For example, do you want surgery, dialysis, blood transfusion, or cancer treatment? You can also name someone to make decisions for you ONLY when you can no longer make them yourself.

Chaplain Visits

The clergy from the area visit the hospital and are deeply interested in your spiritual welfare. The Ministerial Alliance provides the hospital with Chaplain Services. Upon your request, your nurse will call the minister or priest of your choice.

Disabled Provisions

We provide disabled patients and visitors with the following assistance: parking spaces located near to some outside entrances, ramps for wheelchairs, public restrooms accessible to persons confined to wheelchairs as well as other types of disabilities, and lower water fountains.

Language Interpreter Services

In an effort to better serve our patients who do not speak English, Prowers Medical Center provides free  language interpretation services to our patients and/or their authorized representatives. If you require assistance with Language Interpretation Services, ask a member of our nursing staff, one of our physicians/providers or look for any member of the Interpreters Committee Team who is wearing a blue globe on their identification badge.  An interpreter will be readily available from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, after-hours, weekends and holidays. A Telephone Language Line is also available in several languages 24 hours a day.

A TTY/TDD telephone or Relay Colorado number is also available for your use.