PATIENT GUIDE

The Melham Medical Center offers private rooms for all patients.

If you will be staying with us overnight, you may consider bringing your own pajamas, slippers and robe for your comfort. Also, some reading material or a portable music player (with headphones) may be help you relax between visits from your physician or our staff.

Call Button

When you need help, push the call button near your bed and a member of the nursing team will respond as soon as possible.

Cellular phone

Feel free to use your cellular phone.

Tobacco-free Policy

Melham Medical Center is committed to inspiring healthy living and wellness among our community, our employees, and our patients. Therefore Melham Medical Center is a Tobacco-Free Campus. This means the use of tobacco and nicotine products, to include e-cigarettes, will not be allowed on Melham owned property, which includes all buildings and grounds, parking lots, sidewalks, exterior open spaces, and the Melham Wellness Center.

Television

Cable television is available to you. A channel guide will be provided in your room.

Mail

Your mail will be delivered to your room each morning. Mail received after you leave will be forwarded to your home.

Personal Belongings

Valuables and excess cash should be checked at the time of your admission. You are responsible for these items if they remain in your room. If you wish to check valuables after your admission, contact your nurse. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Interpretive Services and TTY available.

The Melham Medical Center Food and Nutrition Services offer a variety of food and nutrition services to patients and their guests. As a patient your meals will be served according to the dietary guidelines established by your physician.

Meals are served to patients at the following times:

• Breakfast, 8:00 a.m.
• Lunch, 12:00 p.m.
• Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

Meals for visitors and guests may be purchased in the cafeteria. 

• Lunch, 11:00 - 1:00 p.m.
• Dinner, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Your nutritional status is assessed when you are admitted and appropriate nutritional counseling is provided as necessary.

Vending machines with assorted beverages, candies and snacks are located by the cafeteria. 

Hospital Billing

After you are discharged from the hospital you will receive a summary statement of account for your hospital services. You will receive a separate bill from your physician and could receive other bills, depending on the services provided. The daily hospital room charge covers your basic nursing care, meal service and special diets. Your hospital bill may include charges for the operating room, medications, laboratory tests, X-ray services and any other special medical supplies or services you may need during your stay.

Payment of your hospital bill is your responsibility. Melham Medical Center will accept insurance assignment and file your insurance claims as a service to you. If your insurance company does not pay within 30 days, you may be billed for the full balance due. Any payment that is your responsibility is expected to be paid in full upon receipt of your statement. The Melham Medical Center accepts payment in cash, personal check, MasterCard, VISA or Discover or payment schedule arranged with billing office.

If you have questions about your hospital bill, please call (308)872-4178.

Radiology Services

You will receive separate statements for the services provided by the radiologist. These will come directly from the radiologist.

Respect and Dignity

Patients have the right to appropriate medical care and services that respect their personal values and beliefs, and to be treated with dignity at all times. Respect for dignity includes the patients' right to be free from all forms of abuse or harassment.

Privacy

Patient privacy is a consideration in facility designs, in all communication with or about patients, and in information system implementation.

Confidentiality

Patient records, care discussion, consultation, examination and treatment are confidential and conducted with discretion. Patient participation in training or research is voluntary and is treated with the same confidentiality as patient care.

Patient Communication

Patients have the right to have their own physician, family member or other representative of their choice be notified promptly of their admission to the hospital. Each patient and family has the right to receive complete explanations regarding procedures and treatment in a language or manner that they can understand. Patients and families also have the right to know the name and professional status of the people involved in their care and which physician has primary responsibility for their care.

Additionally, patients have the right to receive or refuse visitors, mail and telephone calls during their stay at Melham Medical Center as allowed by their medical condition and treatment. Melham Medical Center will support restriction of a patient's access to phone calls, mail, visitors, and other forms of communication ONLY when deemed necessary by the physician, patient, or family as a component of the patient's care.

Patient Education

Patients and their families are provided with appropriate education and training to enhance knowledge of the patient's illness and treatment needs, and to learn and demonstrate skills and behaviors that promote wellness or improve function.

Equal Consideration

Available and medically appropriate patient care and treatment services are offered to patients solely on the basis of medical condition, without differentiation or consideration of race, age, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or ability to pay. (See policy Admission/Registration.)

Safety

Patients have the right to expect reasonable safety and accessibility in the physical environment of the hospital. Compliance with ADA and other applicable laws and regulations help assure a safe and accessible environment. Patients have the right to be free from restraints of any form that are not medically necessary.

Participation

Patients have the right to ask questions and be involved in decisions about their medical condition and treatment. Patients and, when appropriate, their families have the right to be informed about the outcomes of care, including unanticipated outcomes.

Patients have the right to access information contained in their clinical records within a reasonable time frame. Patients have the right to participate in the consideration of ethical issues arising in the provision of their care, including resolution of conflict, withholding resuscitative measures, foregoing or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, maintaining comfort and pain relief, and participation in investigative studies and/or clinical trails.

Patients have the right to designate a representative decision-maker (Advance Directive/Durable Power of Attorney) in the event that they become incapable of understanding a proposed treatment or procedure or are unable to communicate their wishes regarding care.

Pain Management

Patients have a right to pain assessment and management. The Melham Medical Center healthcare providers will ensure this right by discussing pain assessment and management with all patients and/or surrogate decision makers upon admission, and throughout the hospital stay. Healthcare providers will work with the patients and with each other to establish patient-centered goals for pain relief, including the development, implementation, evaluation, and modification of a pain management plan.

Consent

Patients shall be reasonably informed by their physician so that they can participate in decisions involving their healthcare. To the degree possible, the following will be provided: clear, concise explanations of the patient's condition; procedure or treatment recommended; the anticipated benefits, the inherent risks and discomforts; reasonable alternatives; and who will treat them or perform the procedure. Patients shall not be subject to any procedure without voluntary, competent consent or the consent of their legally authorized representative. Patients shall be informed of and consent to all human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting their care or treatment. Patients shall have the right to refuse any treatment. Patients shall have the right to see a different physician or specialist for consultation.

Many children, particularly mature minors (age 14+), have the cognitive ability to participate in healthcare decisions and provide informed consent. Children with decision-making capacity, regardless of age, should be involved in their healthcare decisions. Their verbal, and in some cases written, assent for procedures and treatments should be sought.

Refusal of Treatment

Patients may refuse recommended procedures or treatments to the extent permitted by law. Patients also have the right to know how this refusal may affect their medical condition. Treatment refusal may constitute termination of the patient/provider relationship upon reasonable notice.

Protective Services

Patients have the right to contact Protective Services. The hospital will assist in determining the patient's need for special services through the Social Work Department.

Transfer and Continuum of Care

To ensure the continuity of care, appropriate patient information is communicated to any healthcare organization or provider to/from which patients are admitted, referred, transferred, or discharged. Relevant patient information includes, but is not limited to: the reason for transfer or discharge, the patient's physical and psychosocial status at time of transfer, a summary of care and/or service provided, progress toward achieving goals, and instruction or referrals provided to the patient. Patients may not be transferred to another facility or organization unless they have been given an explanation of the need for the transfer and available alternatives.

Hospital Rules and Regulations

Patients shall have the right to be informed of hospital rules and regulations as they apply to them. (Patient Handbooks are available in patient rooms or a copy will be given upon request).

Parent/Guardian Rights

Parents or guardians of hospitalized children at The Melham Medical Center have the right to visit their children or call the patient care unit at any time. They have the right to receive information needed to give informed consent for their children's medical treatment. Additionally, they have the right to refuse treatment for their children to the extent permitted by law, and the right to know how this refusal may affect their children's medical condition.

Grievance Process

Patients and their representatives have the right to share concerns or complaints regarding their care, facilities and/or personal interactions with the staff. When a concern or complaint is received relating to the patient rights outlined in this document, the grievance will be responded to verbally within five days, and in writing within thirty days, by the most appropriate individual.