GENERAL INFORMATION

Common Patient-Stay Questions

Time Warner Cable provides free cable access for all our patients. Patients can request to view an educational tape by contacting their nurse.

To make an outside call, dial 9 and then your local number. To call long distance, dial “0” and request the long-distance carrier of your choice. Long-distance calls should be charged to your home phone or to a phone credit card. Incoming calls will be connected to patient rooms (with your permission) from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. You may dial out at any time. Pay phones are in the front and Emergency Center lobbies.

Using the Wi-Fi is free of charge and available in all rooms, lounges, waiting areas and the hospital cafeteria. The connection will show up as “hotspot” on your PC or other device. Bedside computers are not to be used for patient or family personal use.

Our hospital volunteers deliver mail and flowers to patient rooms daily. Mail or flowers received after your discharge will be forwarded to you at your area of residence. You may give outgoing mail to a member of the nursing staff or volunteers for outgoing delivery.

No food, live plants or cut flowers are permitted in the ICU/CCU rooms. Silk arrangements and Mylar balloons are acceptable as space and condition permits.

Located near the front lobby, the Grand Lake Healthy System Gift Shop is run by the hospital auxiliary and offers a variety of giftware, jewelry, magazines, floral arrangements, plush, balloons and seasonal specials.

If your prescribed meal allows for solid food, you will have the opportunity to select your menu from several choices for the next day’s meals. If you have special requests or diet preferences, please let our staff know so they may accommodate you and notify the food services department. A clinical dietitian is on staff to discuss dietary needs with the patient.

Emergency Drills

Emergency drills will be conducted periodically to ensure our readiness in a true emergency. Drills involve personnel, not the patient, and you will be instructed on what to do.

Smoking Policy

Grand Lake Health System is a tobacco-free campus. Smoking is not permitted on the hospital grounds.

ATM
Machine

An ATM machine is available in the Outpatient lobby.

Newspapers

Coin operated newspaper machines are also located at the main entrance of the Hospital for the convenience of guests and visitors.

Spiritual Care

Upon arrival, admitting staff will inform each patient of their option to request pastoral visits. Clergy of all faiths visit the hospital regularly; with your permission, the hospital is obligated to respect the patient’s wishes. The St. Mary’s Ministerial Association has a chaplain of the week who will visit any patient upon request. If you wish to speak to a clergyman, please notify your nurse. An interfaith meditation room is available on the first floor for visitors and patients.

Home
Health & Hospice Care

Home healthcare professionals are available through Grand Lake Home Health & Hospice (a subsidiary of Grand Lake Health System) and other local agencies. For information about these services please contact Home Health/Hospice at extension 2802.

Palliative Care

This special program provides a team approach to a patient and family who are dealing with a life altering illness. Our team consists of the physician, nurse, social worker, and our Pastoral Counselor. We provide care for the whole person, focusing on physical, emotional and spiritual needs. For more information, please call extension 2802.

Transitional Care Unit

Once ready for discharge from the acute setting of the hospital, your physician may recommend your care be continued to another level of care. The hospital contains a skilled nursing facility or Transitional Care Unit where you may receive additional care if you qualify per your payer’s guidelines. Our Care Management staff can evaluate your eligibility for this unit with you and your physician.

Inpatient Rehab Unit

Following an injury or illness your physician may determine that you need additional rehab services to restore your physical and cognitive function. The hospital has an Inpatient Rehab Unit that is licensed to provide those special rehabilitative needs. Your physician will evaluate and decide if this acute level of rehab care is needed. Our Care Management staff will assist in the eligibility process to verify your payer’s guidelines.

It is the policy of Joint Township District Memorial Hospital to provide the best possible care to all of our patients without regard to race, creed, color, ability to pay and any considerations other than medical need. Your admission to the hospital was requested by your physician, a member of our medical staff. The personal and financial information you supply to our admitting personnel is necessary for hospital medical and legal records and will be kept in the strictest confidence. It is necessary to bring all insurance cards with you at the time of admission so that registration staff can copy them for your file.

When and Where to Arrive: On the day of admission, please come to the Outpatient Center entrance at the front of the Hospital at the time specified by your physician.

What to Bring: You may wish to bring a few personal items with you such as toiletries, gown or pajamas, robe and slippers. Maternity patients should bring clothes for the newborn to wear home from the hospital. If you wear contact lenses, eyeglasses, dentures, or a hearing aid, please have a proper container to store them at your bedside. These items are easily lost if placed on your food tray or wrapped in tissues or in paper cups. The hospital cannot be responsible for the care, storage and replacement of these items.

Valuable or Lost Items: Patients are asked not to bring items of value to the Hospital (such as cash, jewelry or credit cards). If you do bring a valuable item, it should be deposited in the hospital safe. You will be given a written receipt for all items which must be presented when you obtain them.

The hospital does not accept responsibility for items of value unless they are deposited in the safe. If you lose something, please notify your nurse right away, and we will make every effort to help you find it. Unclaimed articles are placed in “lost and found” where they are kept for 30 days. To inquire about lost articles, call the patient representative at extension 2102.

Personal Belongings: At discharge, a nurse or nursing assistant will assist you to collect all your belongings and check the closets and drawers. If you leave valuables in the hospital safe, the staff will assist you to obtain these items.

Medications: Please bring all medication with you to the hospital (prescription, nonprescription and herbal) and give it to your nurse upon arrival. The nurse will assume responsibility for administering the proper dosage and type of medications during
your stay.

On the day you are dismissed the physician will authorize your discharge. He/she will explain the details of your release and follow up care. Following the physician’s approval, the discharge process has many steps. The Care Management staff may also assist in planning for your discharge needs. We strive to make it as efficient as possible, yet with attention to making your transition to home or the next level of care as safe and informative as possible. We ask your patience as we tend to those needs.

Discharge Scheduled

On the day you are scheduled to be dismissed, please plan to leave as soon as the details of the discharge process are completed so that we can prepare your room for an incoming patient. Family or friends may park temporarily under the canopy at the hospital’s main entrance. A staff member or volunteer will escort you by wheelchair to your ride.

When you come to the hospital, you are asked if you have an Advance Directive. Advance Directives are forms that allow you to make your healthcare wishes known in writing when you are not able to speak for yourself. This may happen when you are: unconscious, terminally ill, or confused and cannot make informed decisions. In Ohio, there are 5 Advance Directives: Living Will for Healthcare, Healthcare Power of Attorney, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR), Organ and Tissue Donation, and Mental Health Declaration. You may be asked to provide us with copies of these documents, so we have your wishes on file regarding your medical care.

Patients have the right to complete an Advance Directive and expect that it will be honored. If your physician is not able to respect your wishes he or she will assist you in getting another physician to honor your wishes. Often care choices can be resolved by talking about them with your doctor and family. Whether you have an Advance Directive or not, you will still be cared for in the hospital.

To help you better understand what these documents are, a brochure and/or Advance Directive packet will be made available to you on admission with detailed information explaining the choices you have to make your healthcare wishes known, including your right to accept or refuse medical treatment.

Please inform the staff if you have any further questions or would like additional information and/or assistance to complete an Advance Directive. A patient representative is on staff to answer any questions about Advance Directives or assist you to complete the documents – the Living Will or Healthcare Power of Attorney. To contact the patient representative, please call 419-394-3335, extension 2102.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most significant change to our country’s healthcare system since the introduction of Medicare. Because it is important that you understand the law and how it may impact or benefit your family, we’re sharing this useful consumer information given to us by the United States Department of Health & Human Services. For more information, visit HealthCare.gov.

Thank you for the privilege of caring for you and your family.

HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACE INFORMATION FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

  1. If you don’t already have health coverage, the Health Insurance Marketplace is a new way to find and buy health coverage that fits your budget and meets your needs.
  2. Open Enrollment period for 2021 is November 1, 2020 and ends on December 15, 2020. Plans and prices will be available then. Coverage starts as soon as January 1, 2021.
  3. Not only can you view and compare health insurance options online, but with one simple application, you can have those options tailored to your personal situation and find out if you might be eligible, based on your income, for financial assistance to lower your costs.
  4. The same application will let you find out if you and your family members might qualify for free or low-cost coverage available through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
  5. The information is all available online, but you can apply 4 ways: online at healthcare.gov, by phone at 1-855-889-4325, by mail, or in-person with the help of a trained assister or navigator.
  6. Each health plan will generally offer comprehensive coverage, including a core set of essential health benefits like doctor visits, preventive care, maternity care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, and more.
  7. No matter where you live, there will be a Marketplace in your state, offering plans from private companies where you’ll be able to compare your health coverage options based on price, benefits, quality, and other features important to you before you make a choice.
  8. Health insurance companies selling plans through the Marketplace can’t deny you coverage or charge you more due to pre-existing health conditions, and they can’t charge women and men different premiums based on their gender.
  9. Marketplaces will be operated by your state, the federal government, or a partnership of the two, but each Marketplace will give you the same access to all of your Marketplace coverage options.
  10. For more information, visit HealthCare.gov. Or, call the Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325. If you need additional assistance, please contact Grand Lake Health System’s Certified Application Counselor at 419-394-8389.

A community health assessment uses quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyze data to help understand the health needs within a specific community. Grand Lake Health System and numerous social service / health organizations contributed to the community health assessment through consulting on the survey design, analyzing the results and helping to distribute the information in the community.

Grand Lake Health System became a tobacco free facility and campus in January 2006. All hospital facilities and property including the Celina Medical Center and Wapakoneta Family Health Center are smoke free. We are very proud to be tobacco free and the region’s leader in adopting this policy. Why has Joint Township Hospital become a tobacco free facility and campus? As a regional healthcare provider, Joint Township Hospital has a responsibility to take action, to be the leader in helping people take control of their health. “We are here not only to provide comfort and care when individuals become sick or injured, but a key component of our mission is to promote health and wellness”, says Mr. Harlan. “By becoming a tobacco free campus, we will be a leader in our community in providing a healthy environment to all employees, visitors and patients.”

Tobacco Facts

  • Tobacco use, smoking specifically, contributes to the leading causes of death.
  • Patients who smoke regularly before surgery have twice the risk of wound infection.
  • Smoking retards wound healing.
  • A smoker’s broken bones take nearly twice as long to heal as a non-smoker’s.
  • The smell of tobacco is a trigger for people who are trying to quit or who recently quit.
  • Smoking can lead to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, lungs and bladder.
  • Smoking causes coronary heart disease.
  • Secondhand smoke contains a mixture of more than 4000 chemicals and more than 50 of them are known carcinogens.

“Education will be a key component of our tobacco free campus policy,” says Harlan. “Our intent is to inservice, educate and heal through smoking cessation resources that will assist patients, their families and our employees. It will be a part of Joint Township Hospital’s overall wellness program.” Employees and the public can contact the Community Outreach program at Grand Lake Health System (419-394-3335) for information on smoking cessation classes and other resources to aide those intending to quit smoking.

For more information, please contact the Ohio Tobacco Quit line at 1800-Quit Now (1-800-784-8669) or visit ohio.quitlogix.org