Inpatient care, also called acute care, occurs when your doctor decides your condition requires continuous monitoring and you need to be admitted to the hospital. With the Inpatient and Hospitalist teams throughout St. Lawrence Health, your team is made up of compassionate experts focused on making your stay as comfortable, friendly, and specialized as possible. You will be assigned to a unit based on the type of care your provider has ordered: our inpatient units include observation beds, critical care, medical/surgical units, and maternity care.
Our committed and compassionate inpatient care team is here for you when you need us. Your care team will include hospitalists, physician assistants, nurses, and housekeepers. Your team may also include surgeons, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists (PT, OT, ST), nutritionists, social workers, and transitional care coordinator. If you have requested a visit from your spiritual leader, you may expect to see him or her at your bedside too. We are also a teaching environment: you may see students in our hallways or you may be asked to allow them to be a fully supervised part of the care team.
If your healthcare requires a stay at one of our hospitals, you’ll be cared for by a kind of doctor you may not be familiar with: a hospitalist.
Hospitalists, also referred to as intensivists, specialize in in-patient stays as their primary focus of care, communicating with you, your family, your primary care physician, and the nursing staff about your specific course of treatment. They will be your attending physician who will order appropriate diagnostic tests, monitor your conditions, make treatment decisions with input from your primary care doctor, and coordinate your care among all members of the hospital staff.
Our Hospitalists are readily available and able to recognize and react quickly to any changes in your condition. They are also specialized in treating health problems common among hospitalized patients, such as pneumonia, infections, heart attacks and congestive heart failure. These services help provide continuity of care and helps to improve the overall quality of patient care.
Inpatient rooms are equipped with the latest monitoring technology, flat-screen television sets, and free Wi-Fi. When you arrive at your bed, your nurse will orient you to the unit and will write his/her name and the names of other care-team members on a white-board visible at the foot of your bed. It is important that you make your needs known to our care teams so we can deliver the most personalized care possible.
Our staff is committed to helping you make a smooth transition from the hospital once you are medically stable. We will help coordinate your home care, assist with scheduling follow-up appointments, and other tasks essential to your full recovery.
If you have questions or concerns about your inpatient stay, or if you'd like to compliment a caregiver for excellent care, please contact Patient Experience at Canton-Potsdam Hospital at (315) 261-5050, or Gouverneur Hospital at (315) 535-9362; or Performance Improvement at Massena Hospital at (315) 842-3025.
