Your Stay
A hospital stay - whether for a few hours or a few days - is often an anxious time. At Merit Health Rankin, we understand your concerns and will do everything possible to assure you a comfortable stay. Your physician will make preliminary arrangements for your admission, testing or outpatient treatment. Unless, of course, it's an emergency in which case you will be treated immediately. During admission you will meet with a friendly patient registration representative to complete the medical and legal forms required for all patients.
Preparing for Surgery
We strive to make your admittance to the hospital as smooth and comfortable as possible. One way to ease any concerns you may have is to take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with our processes before your arrive. Please be sure to ask any member of your healthcare team if you have further questions about your upcoming surgery.
In order to prepare, be sure to:
- Stop eating and drinking after midnight before surgery, or as directed.
- Ask when to stop taking aspirin or other blood thinners, herbs, vitamins and supplements. Some of these can interfere with surgery or interact with other medications.
- Ask which medications you should continue to take. If told to take your medication on the day of surgery, do so with only a sip of water, or as directed.
- If you smoke, cut down or quit. Merit Health Rankin is a smoke-free campus, which means patients and visitors are not allowed to smoke anywhere on the campus.
- Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled surgery time.
Personal Belongings from Home
For your added comfort during your stay with us, you are welcome to bring personal toiletry items.
Listed below are a few things to remember:
- Inform your nurse of any medications you may have brought with you to the hospital including any complementary/alternative medications (i.e. herbal products).
- To prevent electrical shock or fire, bringing in personal electrical devices is strongly discouraged. If you do bring in any electrical equipment, it is a requirement that it be checked by the plant operations department prior to use.
- Leave your valuables at home where you know they are safe. The hospital will not accept liability for the loss or damage of any personal affects or valuables (money, jewelry, dentures, documents, clothing, etc), unless such items are deposited in the hospital safe.
Upon Arrival
When you arrive at Merit Health Rankin, please check in at the main information desk with a volunteer. An admitting specialist will greet you and begin the registration process. You will be given an identification bracelet that must be worn until you are discharged from the hospital. If this bracelet comes off for any reason, please notify your nurse and ask for a new one.
To prepare for the registration process, please bring the following items with you:
- Your health insurance card
- Personal identification (such as driver's license or picture ID)
- List of current medications
- List of current physicians and their phone numbers
- A copy of your advance directives (if you have created one)
- Any medical records, X-ray films or test (if you doctor has requested them)
If you are having a surgical procedure, a member of the team will escort you and your family to our surgical suite. As you enter the surgery suite, your family and friends will be given a pager so they can be reached by the staff and your surgeon. A surgical waiting room is available near the surgery suite for the comfort of your family and friends.
Depending upon your procedure, you may be directed to an exam room where you will change into a hospital gown. If you are scheduled for a procedure that requires an overnight stay, your personal items will be identified and taken to the nurses station on your unit. Please send home any valuables that you have with you. If you must keep your valuables at the hospital, we urge you to place them in the hospital safe.
Your nurse may conduct a brief examination, which could include taking your temperature, blood pressure, height and weight, and listening to your heart through a stethoscope. At some point, your surgeon and anesthesiologist will speak to you prior to surgery. You will be asked to sign a consent for procedure form if you did not previously complete one in your surgeon's office.
Preparing for Discharge
Once your physician has determined that you are ready to go home, a member of the staff will give you discharge instructions and pamphlets that help you care for yourself following your hospital stay. Be sure you are clear about discharge instructions, including medications you need and information regarding a follow-up visit. Make sure you are given a phone number to call if you have any questions.
For your safety, we will provide wheelchair transportation to the lobby exit where a family member can safely pick you up in the car. Be sure to gather all of your personal belongings and ask for any valuables you may have in our safe in the administrative supervisor's office.
Please know that the case management department at Merit Health Rankin will work to give you and your family access to all available services that help advance your recuperation and rehabilitation. Discharge planners assess each patient at the time of admission and follow their care until discharge.
Case managers at Merit Health Rankin can assist with coordination of the discharge plan, which may include:
- Nursing home or assisted living facilities
- Working with your insurance company
- Home health care
- Durable medical equipment
- Rehabilitation
- Transportation
- Hospice
- Community resources
The case management department office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To speak with a case manager, please call (601) 824-8384.
Resolution of Patient Concerns About Your Care Treatment or Services
The medical staff and the associates of Merit Health Rankin seek to treat our patients with fairness and concern, recognizing their needs and satisfying them to the extent possible. If you have a concern about your care, treatment or services please tell any associate so we can respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may call administration by dialing extension 8564 from the phone in your room. You may call the MS Department of Health for any unresolved concerns about care, treatment or services provided by this hospital. The telephone number is (800) 227-7308 and the address is P.O. Box 1700 Jackson, MS 39125-1700.
You may also contact the Joint Commission with unresolved complaints.