Patient and visitor guide
Going home
Your doctor will tell you when you may leave the hospital and will write orders for your discharge. If special medications or home care instructions are necessary, your doctor and nurse will explain them to you.
Please tell the person who is driving you home to come to your room until you can be escorted to the entrance. Check your room for any personal items you have brought. Have you packed your eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures? Do you have any valuables stored in our safe?
Discharge planning
A satisfactory discharge from the hospital is planned for you by the discharge planning team, which may include a nurse, social worker, dietitian, physical therapist and other medical professionals. If you should need special assistance, the social service department will help make necessary arrangements.
Home health services
Your physician may recommend continued professional nursing care for you after your return home. Two home health agencies affiliated with IVCH include Valley Home Health Services and the Illinois Regional Private Duty Service.
Valley Home Health Services offers a full range of nursing and therapeutic services for clients in their homes. VHHS will bill Medicare and private insurance companies directly. A doctor’s order is required before services can begin. For more information, call 224-1307.
Terminally ill patients can receive personalized nursing care at home through Illinois Valley Hospice, a Medicare- and Medicaid-certified agency. For more information, call 224-1307.
Adult day services
Illinois Valley Adult Day Center at 1020 Second St. in LaSalle serves older adults who do not need constant medical attention but do require regular assistance and monitoring. Special programming is available for anyone with Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, call 223-0891.
Advance directives
An advance directive is a written document that allows you to give directions about your future medical care if you should ever become unable to communicate your wishes due to an accident or illness. The living will and the durable power of attorney for healthcare are the two advance directives recognized in Illinois.
Questions and answers about advance directives
Q. What is a living
will?
A. A living will directs
that the process of dying not be artificially prolonged if death is imminent.
It stipulates that only the care necessary to maintain comfort and dignity
be provided, while the fatal illness or injury is permitted to take its
natural course.
Q. What is a durable
power of attorney for healthcare?
A. A durable
power of attorney for healthcare is a document that allows you to delegate
to a trusted friend or family member the power to become your agent for any
health care decision you are unable to make.
Q. How can I receive
more information?
A. The IVCH social service department can
provide you with more information about advance directives. Talk to
your nurse if you would like to have a social worker visit you. If
you want more information after returning home, call 780-3504.
If there is no answer, wait for an operator and ask to have a social worker
paged.