Patient Rights

• Receive considerate and respectful care that is in accordance with your personal value and belief system.
• Respectful consideration of your psychosocial, spiritual and cultural values, needs and preferences. You have the right to request and receive spiritual care services.
• Participate in planning and making decisions concerning your healthcare. If you are not capable of making the decision, it must be made by someone who can speak for you, such as a family member or person named by you. For services given to newborn babies, children and teenagers, this means the family or guardian is involved in making decisions.
• Be well informed about your illness, possible treatments and likely outcomes, including any information necessary for you to make a decision regarding consent and assist in your recovery. Whenever these outcomes differ significantly from the anticipated outcomes you will be informed.
• Have a family member or representative and your own physician notified promptly upon admission to the hospital.
• Receive care in a safe setting and be free from abuse and harassment.
• Access your medical records within a reasonable timeframe and have information explained, except when restricted by law.
• Decide to refuse treatment and to be told what could happen if you make that decision. Take part in planning your care. Be able to ask for or say no to treatment. This right does not mean you can demand treatment or services that are not medically necessary or correct.
• Agree or refuse to participate in research or evaluative studies.
• Be free from chemical or physical restraint, except when necessary to protect against injury to self or others.
• Expect that the Medical Center, your doctor and others caring for you will protect your privacy as much as possible. Expect that treatment records will be kept confidential unless you have given permission to release information or reporting is required or permitted by law.
• Receive services from a skilled team of healthcare professionals who are available around the clock to provide services and who respond to the best of their ability to your needs and requests. These professionals will inform you of their names and their roles in your care.
• Request a transfer to a different room if another patient or visitor in the room is disturbing you and if another room equally suitable for your care needs is available.
• Be transferred to another facility if St. Rita’s cannot provide the required service, if alternatives to such transfers are explained and if the transfer is acceptable to the other facility.
• Expect information about Medical Center rules that affect you and your treatment and about charges and payment methods.
• Have an Advance Directive such as a Living Will or a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, a DNR comfort care or DNR comfort care-arrest. With the expectation that the hospital will honor the intent of that directive to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy.
• Contact local and state agencies in the event you have a complaint or grievance about the quality of your care. You may contact either: