Your Rights and Responsibilities
Customer Service -- Dedicated to Excellence
At Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center we are dedicated to providing exceptional customer service which we refer to as "Service Excellence." Our commitment to our patients and families is to provide a clean and restful environment, staffed by friendly and caring employees, who have the skills and desire to help people improve their health. Each member of our staff is empowered to attend to your needs. Please let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can improve our services.
Patient Safety
Patient Safety is our first priority at Glendale Memorial Hospital. Involving patients and their families in their own safety through increased education has been proven to be an effective way to reduce the risk of medical errors. What can you do? Be involved in your health care. The single most important way you can help to prevent errors is to be an active member of your health care team. That means taking part in every decision about your health care.
Ask Questions
- Speak up if you have concerns. It is okay to ask questions and to expect answers you can understand.
- Choose a doctor whom you feel comfortable talking to about your health and treatment.
- Take a relative or friend with you if this will help you ask questions and understand the answers.
Medications
- Show the person giving you medications your identification bracelet.
- Make sure you are given the same medication each time and if not, ask why.
- Tell your doctor and nurse about all the medications you take, including over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamins and herbals.
- If you have had a bad reaction to medicines or dyes in the past, tell your physician and nurse.
- When you are discharged from the hospital and the physician writes a prescription for a medication for you to take at home, ask the pharmacist about side effects and what food or other things to avoid while taking the medication.
- Read the label, including warnings. Make sure it is the medication your doctor ordered and you know how to use it.
Tests
- Show your identification bracelet to the person taking your blood or doing a procedure.
- Ask the doctor or nurse when you will get the results of your tests and procedures.
- Make sure you discuss the results of all tests and procedures with your doctor.
- Don't assume the results are okay if you don't get them when expected. Call the doctor and ask what the results mean.
Choosing a Hospital
- If you need hospital care, talk with your doctor about your care options. If you have more than one hospital to choose from, ask the doctor which hospital has the best care for your condition. Hospitals do a good job of treating a wide range of problems. For some procedures, however (such as heart bypass surgery), research shows results are often better at hospitals doing a lot of these procedures.
- Before you leave the hospital, ask about the follow-up care and make sure you understand all of the instructions.
