Your Hospital Stay

Knowing what your hospital stay will be like can provide reassurance. We welcome your questions and want you to take an active role in your care.

While most of the things you will need when in the hospital are provided, you may want to consider bringing toiletries and comfortable clothes with you to help make your stay more comfortable. When preparing your hospital bag, make sure to include your:

• List of current medications
• Picture identification
• Insurance card
• Inhaler, eye drops, walker, cane, or crutches, if you use them
• Personal items, such as glasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids
• Toiletries—you may choose to bring your own toiletries, if you prefer

Please don't bring valuables, such as credit cards, jewelry, wedding rings, and large amounts of money, to the hospital. The hospital can’t assume responsibility for the safekeeping of these items. Your personal electronic devices are your responsibility during your stay. 

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health offers amenities and services to help you feel comfortable during your hospital stay, including:

Our chapels are spaces for quiet reflection and prayer for patients, family, and staff. Our nondenominational chaplains are available to provide counseling, compassionate listening, crisis intervention, grief and bereavement resources, and patient advocacy. Chaplains are available 24 hours a day. 

Communication is crucial to a smooth and effective hospital stay. We want to ensure that you can communicate with your provider and other medical staff. We provide interpreters for our patients when necessary. When you arrive at the hospital, please notify the patient care staff if you need an interpreter.

Patient satisfaction is our top priority. Our staff includes patient advocates, who work with the hospital’s managers and supervisors to respond to, and seek resolutions for, concerns and complaints expressed by our patients.

Patient escorts are available within the hospital to ensure that you arrive safely, comfortably, and on time for appointments within our facility.

Patients and their visitors in Virginia Mason Hospital may order the meal of their choice from room service between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily. Meals are made to order and are delivered directly to the patient's room.

Virginia Mason offers free wireless internet access to our guests and patients. Wireless access is available in waiting areas, lobbies, and in all public areas.

We want you to feel comfortable and confident when you leave the hospital. When your doctor decides that you are ready to leave the hospital, he or she will confirm your discharge. Your care may involve follow-up appointments or treatments. If your doctor has prescribed prescriptions, you may choose to fill them at our Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Pharmacies. You should make arrangements ahead of time to have a friend or family member help you when it’s time to leave.

A discharge planning nurse will work with you and your family to identify equipment needs and discharge options. The nurse can assist you in obtaining any medical equipment you might need and can facilitate placement in a skilled nursing, rehabilitation, or transitional-care facility if you are unable to return to your home immediately after discharge.