Caring for your people

The process for outside clergy obtaining patient information varies according to the day of the week and the time of the day you call. On weekdays, you can use an expedited system to reach the hospital’s Information Desk. Dial 508-363-9233 and, then, after the voice prompt asks you “to enter the number of the extension you wish to reach” enter ext. 22241. You will be automatically transferred to the Information Desk. After normal business hours during the evening, on the weekend or on holidays you have to dial the hospital’s main telephone number at 508-363-5000 and wait for the operator to answer. Provide your three-digit Identification Code or ask for a specific patient by name.

Confidentiality

While clergy receive information about hospitalized members from a variety of sources, if the only means by which you have come to know that someone is a patient, please keep that information confidential. Routine, public release of the fact that the individual is a patient is not a proper use of a privilege the hospital extends to area clergy. Including their name in prayers for the sick or in conversation with other members might not be in keeping with the privacy the individual hoped for.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Impact on Area Clergy

Enacted in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA was originally meant to safeguard health insurance protection for workers and their families when they either changed or lost their jobs. Yet, Title II was meant to encourage the use of electronic data collection and exchange, while also delineating policies and guidelines to safeguard access to healthcare information. It was in light of those requirements that the Privacy Rule came into force seven years later. This rule governs the release of protected health information and control of that information remains with the individual. It includes health status, the provision of healthcare, or payment for healthcare that can be linked to a particular individual. One of those protected elements is religious affiliation. Upon admission, if a patient invokes HIPAA privacy in regard to releasing information to outside clergy about their admission to the hospital, any covered entity must have the ability to comply with the request and not release even basic information to third-parties, including clergy.

Access to the Hospital

Saint Vincent Hospital is located in downtown Worcester, 123 Summer Street, conveniently adjacent to I-290 or the Expressway. Use exit 16, whether coming from the east or the west. During late spring or early summer, the Vernon Hill campus will be vacated and the Center for Psychiatry will become part of the main campus. Almost simultaneously, the various out-patient oncology services will be part of a new state-of-the art Cancer Center which is part of the City Square project and located at One Eaton Place.

Parking and Validated Parking

When visiting the principal site at 123 Summer Street, you must enter the parking garage, across from the main Post Office and follow the signs marked patient and visitor parking. Take a parking ticket and bring it with you into the hospital. The garage has two sections labeled North and South. Use the elevators within the garage and take them to level three. Exit the enclosed area and cross over the access road to enter the hospital proper. During normal weekday business hours, stop by the Information Desk and tell the clerk you are a member of the clergy or faith group leader (or delegate) and ask that your parking ticket be validated. During late night hours or when there is no one at the Information Desk, you must go to Admitting/Patient Registration located in Suite 310 on the South end of the hospital to have your ticket validated.

Late Night Access

Between 9:00pm and 5:00am, the main doors of the hospital are locked for the safety of patients and staff. If you must come and see a member of your congregation during those hours, the only means of access to the hospital is through the Emergency Department waiting area. You may be asked for identification and be required to sign in, while indicating which patient you are going to see. Visitor badges, when provided, must be worn during these late night/early morning hours.

Infection Control – Compliance with Posted Notices

Preventing hospital-acquired infections and isolating patients with communicable diseases is not only a requirement but safeguards visitors and patients alike. Prevention methods include frequent hand-washing and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Hand washing or the use of the aerosol foam hand sanitizer, available outside of every patient room, is encouraged before and after visiting a patient. 
• Isolation Precautions include the standard precautions mentioned above but also require additional protective measures based upon the patient’s condition and are color-coded:
• Lime Green: Contact precautions require hand-washing, gloves and gowns to prevent contact with the invisible microorganisms believed to be present in the room
• Red: This indicates seasonal flu (or influenza). A special regulator mask (or N-95) must be used to prevent you from contracting airborne illnesses 
• Orange: You should wear a standard surgical mask because either through coughing, sneezing, or even talking the patient generates droplets that you could inhale.
• Pink: This indicates that the room in question is a No Foam Room and, so, DO NOT USE the antimicrobial foam that is available; instead, wash your hands with soap and water.
Other Useful Signs:
• NPO (Lat. nil per os) indicates that the patient is to receive nothing orally, even water
• Falls Precaution: The use of yellow, skid-proofs stockings indicate that a patient is not to get out of bed on their own or even with your help. Please go to the nursing station if someone you are visiting indicates they need or want to get out of bed.