YOUR VISITORS

Family members and friends are welcome to visit you during your stay at St. John's Mercy Hospital. However, since patient care is our primary concern, specific visiting hours and regulations have been established for each division or unit. We ask that you follow these guidelines. We are committed to maintaining a healing environment. With this in mind, please keep noise levels to a minimum and respect the needs of other patients in the room. If you have questions, please check with the nursing staff on the floor.

Guidelines
To support quality care for patients, visitors are asked to observe a few guidelines:

• Tobacco use is strictly prohibited both inside and outside hospital buildings. Visitors may not use tobacco products while on the premises, including parking lots.
• Visitors must dress appropriately and must wear a shirt and shoes.
• No more than two visitors are allowed at the bedside at one time.
• Visitors in semi-private rooms should be considerate of both patients.
• Visitors with colds, sore throats or any contagious disease should not visit patients.
• Visits should be kept short.
• Visitors should maintain a quiet environment and avoid unnecessary noise.
• Visitors may be asked to leave the room during tests or treatments or when the doctor or nurse needs to see the patient.
• When appropriate, special visiting arrangements may be made for family members. Please check with the nursing staff.
• Visitors should not bring food or beverages to the patient unless approved by your doctor or nurse.

Visitors are encouraged to leave for the evening; however, in special situations, allowing a family member to stay all night may be beneficial. The nurse will assess the potential benefit of an all-night stay and use his/her professional judgement in allowing an overnight stay. When a visitor stays overnight, he/she will be issued a visitor’s pass. Security officers will monitor patient nursing divisions and check that overnight visitors have been issued a pass.

The hospital reserves the right to ask overnight visitors violating hospital policy or creating a disturbance to leave the premises.

Condition Reports
Personal information about your diagnosis and treatment is available to members of your immediate family whom you designate to receive it.

Parking
Free parking for patients and visitors is available in front of the hospital’s main entrance. Parking is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients and visitors are cautioned not to park in reserved areas or certain designated areas. Please be sure to lock your car and keep valuables in your trunk. If something happens which causes you to need assistance with your vehicle, please call the operator and ask for Safety and Security.

Waiting Areas
Lounge areas for visitors have been set aside on each patient floor and on the main floor in the lobby. Specific waiting areas have been designated for families of patients in the Intensive Care Unit, the Emergency Department and Surgery waiting room to keep family members informed about the progress of surgery.

Out-of-Town Visitors
Accommodations for relatives and visitors from out of town are available at nearby motels. The three motels in Washington are:

• Super 8, 636-390-0088
• American Inn, 636-239-3172
• Sleep Inn, 636-390-8877

Cafeteria
The cafeteria at St. John’s Mercy Hospital is open weekdays 7 a.m. until 6:45 p.m. and weekends 7:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Visitors are welcome to eat in the cafeteria. Patients who have permission to eat in the cafeteria must have a card in order to be served.

If a family member or friend wants to eat in your room with you, the visitor may go to the cafeteria, buy a meal there and take it back to your room. If a visitor does not want to go to the cafeteria, a guest meal tray can be delivered to your room for a cost of $3 for breakfast or $6 for lunch or dinner.

Vending Room
Vending machines for snacks and beverages, located on the first floor near the Emergency Department and on the second floor near the cafeteria, are available 24 hours a day.

ATM
For your convenience, an ATM machine is located on the second floor near the cafeteria.

Gift Shop
The Gift Shop, operated by the hospital Auxiliary and staffed by volunteers, is open from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. weekdays.Weekend hours are as designated.The shop has gift items, jewelry, greeting cards, candy, toiletries, flowers and plants. The gift shop phone number is 636-239-8299.

Chapel
The chapel is located on the first floor of the hospital by the elevators. Visitors of all faiths are welcome to visit the chapel for worship services, prayer and meditation. Check the Mass and Holy Communion distribution schedule on the board outside the chapel.