Your Hospital Stay

During Your Stay

At St. Joseph Hospital, we never stop working to improve the experience we provide our patients and members of our community. We invite and welcome your feedback, whether it be positive or constructive. We will make every effort to address and resolve your concern in a timely manner. If you feel your concerns have not been resolved by staff or leadership, please contact our Patient Relations Coordinator, Mary Beth Perkins, at (603) 882-3000, ext. 63318.

We believe staying well-nourished is essential to healing. Our café provides three meals a day delivered directly to our patients’ rooms. It also offers plenty of take and eat options to both employees and visitors.

Do you have any dietary restrictions? We’re happy to accommodate you. Just notify your Nutritional Host when they take your meal order.

Meals are served at the following times:

Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Dinner: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Snacks: Available 24 hours a day from our cafeteria

Welcoming a child is cause for celebration. At St. Joseph Hospital, we take that literally. New moms and dads are invited to share a three-course meal, complete with china and stemware, to celebrate the birth of their newborn at the Childbirth Center. Ask your nurse for more information.

Phones in Patient Rooms

The telephone in your room is provided for your convenience and without charge for local calls. Please ask your nurse or one of our care technicians for the direct phone number for your telephone.

For local calls:
Dial “9” and then the 7-digit number.

For long distance calls:
Dial “9” and then “0” for the operator to assist you. These calls may be billed to your home phone or telephone calling card or may be placed collect.

Other Ways to Stay in Connected During Your Stay

  • Amplified, CapTel and TTY teletype phones are available, if needed.
  • For deaf/hard of hearing visitors, a public video phone can be located in the Diagnostic Imaging X-Ray waiting area and the St. Joseph Hospital Emergency Department family waiting room.
  • Additionally, an iPad with Sorenson touch and other communication apps is available on inpatient floors or can be signed out from the Interpreter Services Department.

Tips for Using Your Personal Cell Phone During Your Stay

Patients and guests are welcome to use their cell phones to stay connected during their time at St. Joseph Hospital. However, it is important to know that there are areas within our hospital where we ask that you limit the use of your cell phone as it could result in equipment issues and complications for patients. These areas are clearly marked.

We want our patients to feel connected while receiving care at St. Joseph Hospital. That’s why free wireless internet access is available to patients and visitors in most areas of the hospital. Our patient and visitor Wi-Fi network is labeled “Covenant-Guest” and no password is required to access the network.

Relax, recharge and maybe even catch a bit of the Red Sox game. Enjoy complimentary cable television in your room using the control panel located on your hospital bed. A complete channel guide is located on the back cover of the Patient and Family Information Guide in your Admission Packet.

Many times, those who can’t visit patients in person will send cards, gifts and more. We appreciate this emotional support as it is important to our patients. We make every effort to help you stay informed and connected throughout your stay and as you transition back to home or the community. We strive to deliver flowers, plants and gifts directly to your room as soon as they arrive. Standard mail is delivered once a day.

ICU Flower Policy: To protect the health of our patients, flowers are not permitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). If someone delivers flowers to a patient in the ICU, we will work with you and/or your family members to determine where they can be placed.

Looking to send some mail? Hand it to your nurse — they’ll be happy to help. And don’t forget, stamps are available for purchase in the hospital gift shop.

The safety of your valuables is important to us. We recommend keeping sensitive or valuable items like jewelry, credit cards, money or sentimental items at home.

If you choose to bring valuables with you, we’re happy to store them in our safe, which we make available exclusively for patients admitted to the hospital. St. Joseph Hospital is not responsible for the loss of or damage to any jewelry, glasses, dentures, hearing aids and any other item that would be considered a loss if misplaced. As you are admitted to the hospital and prepare to handoff your items, you will need to complete a short form acknowledging that St. Joseph Hospital is not responsible for lost or stolen items. We also ask that you remove any items you have placed in our safe within 60 days of being released.

The safety of our patients and employees is always top of mind. Members of our health system security staff are on duty 24 hours a day. In addition to monitoring our campuses, St. Joseph security team members are on-call to assist you with dead batteries, flat tires and keys locked in your vehicle.

We understand that clear communication is critical to ensuring we deliver the very best care and experience possible. If English is not your primary language, we have qualified medical interpreters available to ensure we are communicating with you and your companion(s) effectively. We provide translation services through qualified translators to assure vital documents and critical health information is available in the language that you prefer to communicate in. Please ask your admission representative, nurse, or other hospital staff for assistance.

Interpreter Services are available in more than 240 languages including American Sign Language via: onsite interpreter, video remote interpreting and over the phone interpreter services. Languages include, but are not limited to:

  • American Sign Language
  • Arabic
  • French (Parisian)
  • Mandarin
  • Nepali
  • Vietnamese
  • Portuguese (European)
  • Greek
  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • French Canadian
  • Russian
  • Bosnian
  • Serbo-Croatian
  • Korean
  • French Creole

Learn more about Interpreter Services.

For your convenience, a stationary public video phone is located in the Diagnostic Imaging X-Ray waiting area and the St. Joseph Hospital Emergency Department family waiting room.

Additionally, an iPad with Sorenson ntouch and other communication apps is available on inpatient floors or can be signed out from the Interpreter Services Department.

  • Sign language and oral interpreters
  • Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
  • TTYs, Public Video Phone and Mobile VRS
  • Notetakers
  • Computer-Assisted Real Time Transcription (CART) services
  • Written materials/Large Print available
  • PockeTalker (Personal amplifier-amplifies sound)
  • Amplified Telephone (compatible with hearing aids), Big Button-Braille Phone/ CapTel phone
  • Open and closed captioning
  • Visual monitor/baby cry alarm/Door knock sensor
  • Pictogram BookDry erase board
  • Signature Guides
  • Magnifiers
  • Talking/large font alarm clock

 

Español

Portuguesa

Please ask your nurse or other hospital staff to assist you or contact the
System Director of Interpreter Services
Voice: (603) 884-3863
VP: (603) 718.3444
TTY: (603) 598.3328

Care Coordination and Social Services

We want patients to have access to the support and services they need before, during and after their stay with us. That is why we have an entire team to assist our patients with care coordination and discharge planning, including RN quality coordinators, RN case managers and social workers. Our team will work with you, your family and your provider to assess your circumstances and arrange for any combination of the following services and support.

  • Psychological support and mental health counseling
  • Home health care and equipment
  • Financial counseling
  • Caregiver support
  • Nutrition
  • Transportation

Preparing to Leave the Hospital

We know that most patients arrive at the hospital with one simple goal: leaving better off than they arrived. Once your provider and care team complete planning and approve your discharge paperwork, you will be asked to complete your discharge forms. It is important to know the discharge process takes time as there are numerous people and departments who have to ensure key steps are completed before you can leave the hospital.

If you’ve received new prescriptions during you stay, save time by having them filled by our in-house pharmacy prior to leaving the hospital. The St. Joseph Hospital’s Retail Pharmacy is located at the back of the atrium lobby. It’s open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

603-882-3000