Kingston Health Sciences Centre - Patient and Family Guide for KGH Site
Please be advised that due to COVID-19, some information in this guidebook may have changed. For questions or concerns, please speak to your health-care team or visit www.KingstonHSC.ca for the most up-to-date information.
Welcome. This guidebook will provide you with the basic information you will need during your stay in the hospital. You may also use the folder provided with this guidebook to help you keep track of anything you receive during your stay. This may include information such as forms, prescriptions or informational brochures.
Who we are
Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) is southeastern Ontario’s largest acute-care academic hospital. Consisting of our Hotel Dieu Hospital (HDH) site and Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site, as well as the Cancer Centre of southeastern Ontario and our research institute, we care for a region of more than 500,000 patients and families. As one of Kingston’s largest employers, we are home to nearly 6,000 staff, more than 2,000 health-care learners and 1,000 volunteers who are committed to partnering with patients and families to ensure we continually provide high quality, compassionate care. Fully affiliated with Queen’s University we are ranked as one of Canada’s top research hospitals. To learn more, visit www.KingstonHSC.ca
About our KGH Site
Kingston General Hospital (KGH) is a community of people dedicated to transforming the patient and family experience through innovative and collaborative approaches to care, knowledge and leadership. As southeastern Ontario’s leading centre for complex-acute and specialty care, KGH serves people from across the region through its Kingston facility and 24 regional affiliate and satellite sites. KGH also serves as the regional referral centre for cardiac, stroke, renal, trauma, neurosurgery, pediatrics, neo-natal, high-risk obstetrics and cancer care.
About our HDH Site
Hotel Dieu Hospital is the ambulatory care teaching and research hospital for Kingston and southeastern Ontario, affiliated with Queen’s University. We provide expert care to patients and families in the region through specialized programs including pediatrics, medicine, ophthalmology, cardiology, urology, surgery, mental health, oncology and urgent care. We deliver quality, safe health care, while advancing innovative research and educating the health care professionals of the future.
KHSC is located on the ancestral lands and waters of the Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee.
Scan the QR code to read our Indigenous Acknowledgment.
Kingston Health Sciences Centre receives funding from Ontario Health. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Ontario Health.
Partners in your care
By partnering with you and your family, we’ll work as a team to make sure you have the best possible experience in the hospital. We believe that you and your family are important members of our team and we want to make sure your voice is heard. That’s why we include you in every decision about your care.
What you can expect during your stay
As a patient or family member, you will notice a few things that we do to make sure that everyone who works, learns or volunteers at KHSC will provide you with the same high standard of care.
1. Whiteboards are located in all patient rooms. These boards will make it easy for you, your family and the rest of your care team to communicate with one another. You should see a whiteboard near your bed and each section should be updated on a regular basis.
2. Everyone who enters your room will wear an ID badge at chest level, with their name and position, so you always know who you are speaking with.
3. Our staff are trained in a patient- and family-centred communications program that helps us partner with you and your family to ensure you receive the respectful, compassionate care you need.
4. We will perform hourly rounds during your stay to ensure that you are seen by a staff member at a minimum of every hour. We will check on your comfort and safety and see that your call bell is within reach.
Patient Rights & Responsibilities
As
a patient of Kingston Health Sciences Centre I have the right to:
Dignity & Respect
• Be treated with respect and courtesy regardless of my age, gender, gender identity, race, culture, spiritual traditions, sexual orientation or disabilities.
• Have my input and choices, including the choice to live at risk, respected by my care team.
Safe Care & Informed Treatment
• Receive safe, accessible care in a setting free of prejudice, harassment, neglect or abuse.
• Know the names and roles of the members of my care team.
• Receive information about my care in a language I understand.
• Receive reliable and current information that helps me to make informed choices about treatment, including the health risks and benefits of my decisions.
• Participate in decisions about my treatment and discharge planning.
• Give or refuse consent for any treatment or procedure, and for any reason.
• Be informed if an unintended or unexpected outcome occurs during my care.
• Take part in or refuse to take part in research or clinical trials.
Privacy & Confidentiality
• Have my privacy respected and have my personal health information held in confidence.
• Have access to my medical records and be able to request a correction if necessary.
A Substitute Decision Maker
• Have someone who can act on my behalf if I cannot make care decisions for myself.
A Feedback & Complaint Process
• Have a say about my care and receive a timely response to any concerns or complaints.
As a patient I am responsible for:
Participating in My Care
• Providing complete and correct information to my care team.
• Asking questions and stating any concerns about my treatment or care.
• Participating in decisions about my treatment and discharge planning. If I believe I can't follow through with my treatment plan, I'm responsible for telling my care provider.
• Recognizing the risks or consequences of refusing treatment and/or leaving the hospital against my caregiver's advice.
Identifying & Preparing my Substitute Decision Maker
• Making sure that the person I've chosen to make my care decisions if I cannot make them myself knows and understands my wishes.
Respecting Others
• Treating my care team, hospital staff and other patients and their families with respect.
• Recognizing that the needs of other patients may sometimes be more urgent than my own.
• Observing hospital policies and practices, such as hand washing to ensure good infection control.
If you feel that your patient rights have been violated please contact your care team or ask to speak with the Program Manager.
Rooms
We know that being in the hospital is stressful and that you want to return home as soon as possible. To make that happen we do our best to make sure that patient flow—how patients move through the hospital during their stay (for example, from the Emergency Department to a hospital bed)—is smooth and efficient.
That means we must think about the needs of all patients when assigning patient beds.
We consider your medical needs, those of other patients and the types of rooms (ward, semi-private or private) we have available when you are admitted to the hospital. Please note that your bed may be located in a non-traditional space (e.g., sunroom, patient lounge, hallway) or in a mixed-gender room.
Please remember that the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) will only cover the cost of a standard ward room. The extra cost of a semi-private or private room is your responsibility and must be covered by private/workplace insurance or paid through a bill you will receive before you are discharged. As well, while you may have coverage for a private room, we may not be able to assign you one.
No matter where your bed is you will have expert, compassionate and safe care, and we will always respect your dignity.
If you wish to discuss your room or bed assignment, please speak with the Charge Nurse.
Informed Consent
According to the Health Care Consent Act in Ontario, you have the right to make your own health and personal care decisions as long as you are capable of doing so. Informed consent is required in order to make a decision about the treatments you receive or the treatments that you withdraw from or refuse. Your consent to any treatment must always be voluntary. Informed consent means you are aware of:
• the nature of the treatment;
• the benefits of the treatment;
• the side effects of the treatment;
• the alternative options available to you;
• the likely consequences of not having the treatment; and
• you have had the opportunity to ask questions and have received responses to your requests for information.
Before deciding to give your consent, here are some questions you should ask:
1. What are the benefits, risks or side-effects?
2. Are there other treatment options?
3. What happens if I don’t consent to the treatment?
4. How do I ask for a second opinion?
Communication
Cellphones
Cellphones sometimes interfere with patient care equipment. For the safety of all of our patients, please check with your care team before using your cellphone. Where it is safe to use your cellphone, including in lobbies, family lounges and cafeterias, please be considerate of people’s privacy, and ensure appropriate consent is obtained from any individual you may be capturing in a photo or other recording. Failure to obtain consent is considered a privacy breach and is reportable.
Social Media
Social media platforms like Facebook, X and Instagram are great ways to keep connected with your family and friends. As listed under cellphones, appropriate consent must be obtained from all individuals appearing in your posts before you share them on social media.
WiFi
Internet access is available in all areas of the hospital through a secure wireless network. You do not need a password to access the wireless network. Simply select the “KHSCguest” network.
Telephones
Every patient has access to a bedside telephone. For local outgoing calls, dial 9, followed by the area code and the telephone number. To call any number within our sites, dial the four-digit extension. Long-distance calls can be made using a calling card.
Television Services
Every bed at the KGH site is configured with either a television mounted at its side or on the wall. To ensure peace and privacy for all, please use earbuds or headphones when watching your television. You may order entertainment and TV rental services at any time by completing the rental process using your touch screen television. Alternatively, you or a loved one completing the process for you, can order this service by visiting LOCMedical.adazur.com. Customer support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Washrooms
Please be aware that to prevent the spread of infections and to keep you safe, the washroom in your room is for your use only. We have public washrooms on every floor and in every department of the hospital and visitors and family members are welcome to use any of them.
KHSC is asking for your help.
Put wipes in the garbage, not the toilet.
Don’t be deceived. Just because someone says something, that doesn’t always make it true. That principle applies to so-called “flushable” bathroom wipes. Consumers have been led to believe that flushable wipes won’t clog toilets or that they break up in water like toilet tissue. In fact, these wipes do not easily disintegrate in our plumbing systems.
If you wish to use wipes, then be sure they are disposed in the wastebasket and not flushed down the toilet.
Please note that a City of Kingston bylaw (Section 17.1 of Bylaw 2008-192) forbids anything going down a sanitary sewer other than human waste and toilet paper.
Research
Patient-oriented research is a hallmark of what we do. Since we are a research hospital, you may be asked to participate in a research study. Please remember, it is always your decision whether or not you want to participate. If you are not interested in participating, please notify a member of your care team. If you choose to not participate in a research study, this will in no way impact your care.
Indigenous all nations healing room
Our KGH site has an Indigenous all nations healing room where all Indigenous peoples are welcome to come together with family to perform traditional spiritual healing practices and ceremonies while in the hospital. Located on the sixth floor of our Connell wing, this room is accessible 24/7.
Patient Relations
Your feedback is important. If you have a concern, compliment, or comment we want to know. While we encourage you to first speak directly with a member of your care team or unit manager, you can also contact Patient Relations by phone at 1-800-567-5722 extension 4158 or by email at PatientRelations@Kingstonhsc.ca
Supporting KHSC
This is the place where donations change lives. Giving to KHSC means improving health care for patients across our entire region. From premature babies who need round-the-clock care to a cancer patient in need of specialized surgery – donations touch the lives of every person who comes to us for help.
Donations are accepted through our fundraising partners at University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF). As the charitable organization that supports Kingston’s hospitals, UHKF plays a key role in helping us provide you with the best care possible. Find out more about how you can help make a difference, through a charitable gift, by calling 613-549-5452 or visiting www.uhkf.ca.
Your safety
Your medical equipment
If using an infusion pump is part of your care, the pump will be set based on your needs and the settings are locked for your safety. Please do not tamper with the equipment.
Hand washing
The most important thing we can all do to prevent infection is to wash our hands regularly. Feel free to ask everyone who enters your room to clean their hands if you don’t see them do so.
Identification bands
You’ll receive an identification band when you arrive at the hospital. Please keep your band on and let a member of the care team know if it comes off, does not fit well or becomes faded. Our staff members see many patients throughout their shift, so to ensure your safety and that of other patients we will check your ID band and ask about your identity many times during your visit, for example, before you receive medications and before tests and/or procedures begin.
Medication
Sometimes your medications will change while you are in the hospital. We will make sure to talk to you and your family about these changes. We will also speak with you about your medications before you leave the hospital. Please ask if you have any questions about your medications.
Falls
When you arrive at the hospital, we will assess you for risk of falling as part of our fall prevention program. However, if you feel like you need help getting around, please ask our staff for help.
Scents & flowers
Strong scents have negative health effects on many people. Please respect that the hospital is a scent-sensitive environment. Help us to create a safe environment for all and do not wear any scented products or keep flowers with scents in your room.
Smoking
Please be aware that KHSC is a smoke-free facility; neither smoking nor vaping is allowed on hospital property. This includes smoking and vaping of medical cannabis. If you smoke, please speak with a member of your care team about the smoking support alternatives that we have available for you while you are in the hospital.
Lost belongings
You are encouraged to leave money and valuables at home. However, we know that you’ll have personal items such as clothing, medications, and support aids with you when you arrive (for example, eyeglasses, contact lenses, dentures, hearing and mobility aids). The hospital doesn’t assume responsibility for these items if they are damaged or go missing. If you need to contact Lost and Found please call 1-800-567-5722 extension 4218.
Leaving the hospital
Discharge planning
To make sure your stay goes smoothly, we will work with you and your family to plan ahead for when it is time to leave the hospital. This plan includes an estimated discharge date and follow-up information. We will give you a discharge summary of the care you received, which will also be sent to your family doctor.
Don’t have a family doctor?
Register to get connected with a primary-care provider by visiting Health Care Connect online at Ontario.ca/healthcareconnect or by calling 1-800-445-1822. It’s important to your overall, long-term health to have a family doctor; those who do are healthier.
Transportation home
We recommend that patients have someone with them or to pick them up when it is time to leave the hospital. Discharge time is 10:00 a.m. each day. If you don’t have a family member or friend who can drive you, there are a number of transportation options available. For more information about these services, please speak to a member of your care team. The hospital does not cover these transportation costs and patients and families should be prepared to pay any transportation fee.
Billing and expenses
If you are a resident of Ontario, there may be some portions of your stay in the hospital that are not covered by OHIP (for example: private/ semi-private room). You will receive a bill from KHSC before you are discharged from the hospital. For more information on billing and expenses, visit KingstonHSC.ca or scan the QR code.
Checklist
We know that leaving the hospital may be stressful as there are many things to keep in mind. To help, you can use the checklist below to make sure that nothing has been missed before you leave and that all your questions have been answered. If you’ve checked anything in the ‘no’ column, please speak to a member of your health-care team.
Yes No Question
Do you know when you will be leaving the hospital?
Do you know if you will need supplies or equipment after you leave?
Do you know who will be picking you up from the hospital?
Have you received your discharge summary?
Has your discharge summary been reviewed with you?
Do you have all of the prescriptions you need to take with you?
Have any follow up appointments been made? (If required)
Do you have all the belongings you brought with you to the hospital? (glasses, hearing aids, etc.)
Have all of your questions been answered? For example:
• Diet
• When to resume normal activities
• Medications
Follow-up clinic appointments
• Symptoms I should be concerned about
• Follow up appointments
KHSC has many clinics where you may be booked to see one of our specialists for medical care, consultation or treatment. These clinic appointments do not require you to stay overnight in the hospital. This is called outpatient or ambulatory care. Clinic appointments may be offered in person, over the phone, or using virtual (video) care technology using your computer or smart device. Check the “Location” section of your appointment notice so you know which type of appointment you are scheduled for.
How do I reschedule or cancel my appointment?
To cancel or reschedule your appointment, call the phone number listed in the “Contact” area of your appointment notice.
What if I don’t have an appointment notice?
If you don’t have an appointment notice or have lost it and can’t remember your appointment details call our Central Scheduling line at 613-548 -2342. In some cases, you may be notified of your appointment by a phone call from the clinic.
How do I get to my appointment and where do I park?
Kingston Health Sciences Centre has two separate locations in Kingston. Please check the “Location” section of your appointment notice so you know where to go if you have an in-person appointment. Scan the QR code for more details on parking at our sites.
Hotel Dieu Hospital site
Main Entrance: 166 Brock St.
Kingston General Hospital site
Main Entrance: 76 Stuart St.
Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario entrance: 25 King St. W
How to prepare for your appointment?
• Bring your valid Ontario Health Card.
• Pack all current prescription and non-prescription medications, or bring a list.
• Plan to arrive 10 minutes before your appointment begins.
• Check in at the registration desk.
• Bring a list of questions you’d like to ask the specialist, or download and print the “It’s Great to Ask” form. You can find this form and learn more about your clinic visit on our website KingstonHSC.ca.
After your appointment, if you:
• have comments or concerns we encourage you to contact Patient Relations by phone at 1-800-567-5722 extension 4158 or by email at PatientRelations@Kingstonhsc.ca
• need to pay a bill visit the Cashier’s Office at our Kingston General Hospital site, open from Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Payments can be made by cash, cheque, debit or credit card. If you have questions, please call the Accounts Receivable Office at 613-548-2362.
Level 1 Hotel Dieu Hospital Site
Page for notes and other important information
We hope these note pages help you to organize all of the important information from you hospital stay. The space below can be used to jot down important information that you want to remember, as well as questions you might want to ask in the future.
Ask, Listen, Talk
Symptoms I should look for:
Notes about my medication(s):
Future appointments:
Results from my tests:
I want to talk more about:
Community supporters
Kingston Health Sciences Centre is extremely grateful to all advertisers for helping to make this guidebook possible.
Please note, an advertisement in this guide does not imply an endorsement by Kingston Health Sciences Centre.
When
of
that we are a team of caring professionals. All of our employees are extraordinary caregivers, PSWs, and nurses who will help keep individuals in the comfort of their home while enhancing their health and quality of life.
