Patient information

For your convenience, patient information is organized as frequently-asked questions under four headings: overnight stays, outpatient testing, day surgery, and emergency department.

View a list of useful phone numbers.

Frequently asked questions about overnight stays:

Frequently asked questions about outpatient testing:

Frequently asked questions about day surgery:

Frequently asked questions about the emergency department:

What is the admitting procedure and patient guidelines?
Admission to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital is usually prearranged by your physician. Check-in time on the day of your arrival is dependent upon your procedure and is determined by your physician. Emergency patients are admitted at any hour of the day.

When you are admitted, please bring identification as well as insurance information. You will have an identification band placed on your wrist that tells the hospital staff your name, hospital number and physician's name. You should not remove this band during your stay.

Cell phone policy—We ask our patients and visitors to refrain from using a cell phone while in the hospital building. Guests are welcome to use cell phones outside the building on the hospital grounds and pay telephones are located throughout the campus.

Smoking policy—To protect and promote the health and wellness of our guests and associates, smoking is prohibited in all areas of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital.

What should I bring with me?
During your stay, you will need only a few personal items, such as toiletries, a bathrobe, slippers, and a nightgown or pajamas. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital provides patients with hospital attire that may be more practical during the first few days of your stay. After that, you may prefer to wear your own clothing. Patients in the behavioral health unit wear their own street clothes.

We suggest you leave all jewelry, large sums of money, expensive articles of clothing, legal documents and other valuables at home.

How do I prepare for surgery?
Surgery—The surgical capabilities at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital include general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, oral surgery, orthopedics including arthroscopies, otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), plastic surgery, podiatry, thoracic/vascular surgery and urology. State-of-the-art laser equipment is available for ophthalmology, gynecology, otolaryngology, orthopedic and general surgery procedures. Good Shepherd also provides a day surgery program for patients who don’t require overnight hospitalization.

Anesthesia—Prior to your surgical procedure, you will be visited by an anesthesiologist who will review your anesthetia options with you. The anesthesiologist also will go over the anesthetic procedure and answer any questions you may have.

Prior to surgery—You will need to have preadmission testing prior to your surgery that may include blood work, urine testing, EKG, and chest x-ray. The results of your preadmission testing will be forwarded to your surgeon. A complete medical history and physical is required before surgery and usually is completed by your primary care physician.

Family waiting room—Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital has a specially designated family waiting room for the families of our surgery patients. Family members will be notified regarding the status of their loved one’s procedure. A volunteer is in the family waiting room to assist family members. Free coffee is available. If you need to leave the area, there are pagers available for your convenience. These can be checked out with the volunteer or a member of the day surgery staff.

Recovery room—After surgery, all patients are taken to the recovery room, generally for one hour. Relatives are not allowed in the recovery room. Following a stay in the recovery room, patients will be taken to the post-operative area. Depending on the type of surgery, patients stay for at least one hour before they are taken to their inpatient room.

What are the food service options?
Patient menus are planned according to nutrition guidelines and recommended dietary allowances as prescribed by your physician. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital’s food and nutrition department consistently provides excellent food and service to our customers. Every effort is made to provide a variety of appealing and tasteful menu items for both general and modified diets. If you would like to make special dietary requests because of ethnic, religious or personal preferences, please tell your nurse.

Guest meals—Guest trays can be ordered for family and friends who would like to dine with you. The cost of guest trays will be charged to the patient.

Nutrition counseling—Inpatient and outpatient nutrition counseling is available through the food and nutrition department. All counseling is done on a one-to-one basis. A physician referral is required for this service.

Cafeteria—The hospital cafeteria is open from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4:45 to 7-p.m. everyday. Twenty-four hour vending machines are located in the cafeteria dining room.

Snack shops—The Pear Tree Café is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located adjacent to the ground floor lobby. The Partridge Coffee Shop is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is located in the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Outpatient Pavilion.

What are the amenities and conveniences such as television, phone and ATM?
Private rooms—If you request a private room or need a private room due to a medical condition, you will be responsible for the difference between the cost of a semi-private room and a private room. This additional cost is incurred because most insurance companies cover the cost of a semi-private room only.

Television—Patient rooms are furnished with a color television that can be controlled from the pillow speaker. A television closed-caption feature is available for patients who are deaf or have hearing impairments. The unit allows patients to read dialogue on the television screen from any program broadcast with closed caption encoding. This is activated by pressing the CC (closed captioning) button on the pillow speaker.

ATM—An ATM machine is located on the ground floor, outside the Pear Tree Gift Shop, in the hospital’s main lobby.

Telephone service—Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital has two telephone numbers. Call 847-381-9600 or 847-381-0123 for an automated operator. The switchboard cannot accept calls for patients after 9:30 p.m., however patients can call out at any time. Outgoing calls covered by our calling package in the following area codes are free of charge: 847, 630 and 815.

Flowers—Flowers sent to a patient will be delivered as soon as possible. For the health and safety of our patients, flowers cannot be delivered to the Intensive Care unit.

Where do I park?
Visitors may park in Lot B on the ground level in front of the hospital. Please do not park in the lot outside the emergency room unless emergency services are required. All parking is free.

What types of spiritual care services are available?
The Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Chapel is located on the first floor near the east elevator. The chapel is open 24 hours a day. The cornerstone of our mission as a faith-based hospital is caring for the whole person: body, mind and spirit. Our goal is to provide excellent patient care. That includes meeting your spiritual needs. The chaplains are available to provide emotional and spiritual support to you and to members of your family.

What are advance directives such as a living will or do not resuscitate order?
There are two different documents that you can elect to complete that will direct how your health care will be delivered if you become incapacitated. They are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care. A living will gives a patient the right, through a written declaration, to have death-delaying procedures withheld or withdrawn in the event of a terminal condition. A durable power of attorney for health care states that individuals have a right, even when incompetent, to control all aspects of their medical treatment. Patients should ask their nurse for guidance in obtaining and completing these documents.

What are my rights and responsibilities as a patient?
It is your right as an Advocate patient:

1. To be informed of your rights.
2. To be given care regardless of your race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, ability or disability, or life style.
3. To be given care that respects your individual cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, personal values, beliefs and preferences and which promotes your dignity, privacy, safety and comfort.
4. To be given care without verbal, physical, sexual or emotional abuse, annoyance or neglect.
5. To be placed in restraints or isolation only when it is medically necessary to improve your well-being, protect you from harm and/or prevent you from harming others and to have you or your family informed.
6. To have your pain well managed, and help in developing a plan to manage your pain.
7. To be told about the condition of your health, including descriptions of your illness and types of treatment available, their expected results and possible risks, benefits, alternatives and costs, and to be part of your health care decisions.
8. To expect that we will talk with you in a way that you can understand.
9. To help plan your care and treatment, including making decisions regarding your care. To accept or refuse recommended tests or treatments or request treatment; and to bring up issues of concern about your care with your caregivers.
10. To get information and get help with advance directives, so we know what treatment you do or do not want if you can’t tell us yourself. These include a living will, power of attorney for health care (where you pick someone to speak for you) or mental health treatment preference declaration. To expect that your wishes will be followed within the law and the hospital’s ability. To let the hospital appoint a person to make decisions about your care if you have not already picked someone.
11. To receive healthcare that treats the whole person by addressing your spiritual, emotional and physical needs.
12. To get information about and access to needed resources and services that protect and help you.
13. To be told the name of the doctor or other staff that are responsible for your care.
14. To have visitors, mail and telephone services unless you have been informed that there are sound medical or institutional reasons to restrict such access.
15. To be told of the risks and benefits of any proposed research or experimental treatment that may be considered in your care, and to agree or disagree to participate.
16. To express complaints about the quality of care or service without fear, and to get a prompt and courteous answer to your concerns. The Illinois Department of Public Health may be contacted at 217.782.4977 or 800.547.0466 (TTY). You will be provided with information as to how to file a complaint with the hospital and with the state of Illinois.
17. To get information contained in your hospital records within a reasonable time after you ask for them and to be certain that other rights concerning your hospital record, as described in the hospital's Notice of Privacy Practices, will be respected.
18. To have your insurance plan billed for your hospital services, and to receive financial counseling. This may include information about any charges that you may have to pay, an explanation of your bill, if you ask for it, or information on available financial assistance.
19. To be told how to get financial assistance, if you need it.
20. To be told when you are ready to leave the hospital. If you think you are being asked to leave the hospital too soon, you may ask to talk to your caregivers about this.
21. To have a family member or a person of your choice, and your doctor, promptly notified that you are in the hospital.
22. To understand that medical and personal information will be handled in a private manner.
23. To be given care in a safe setting that respects you and maintains your dignity.
24. To receive the best and safest care that we can provide.

It is your responsibility as an Advocate patient:

1. To provide all personal and family health information needed to give you the best care possible.
2. To help make the best decisions about your medical treatment, to follow instructions and to follow your plan of care. To accept and understand what may happen if you do not follow your plan of care.
3. To talk to your doctor or other care provider if you desire a transfer of care to another doctor, caregiver or facility.
4. To ask questions of your doctor or other care providers when you do not understand information or instructions.
5. To show respect and be considerate of others getting and providing care.
6. To follow the rules about smoking, noise and the number of visitors.
7. To understand that your health care services must be paid for and to work with the hospital on a payment plan, as described in the hospital's Statement of Patient Billing Rights and Responsibilities.
8. To tell your doctor or other hospital staff if you need to apply for financial assistance.

revised January 31, 2006

What do I need to know when I leave the hospital?
Prior to your discharge from Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, you will be visited by a care coordinator who will explain your post-hospitalization care to you. Feel free to express any concerns you may have to your nurse at any time.

What if I have questions about my insurance or bill?
If you need any information or have questions regarding payment of your hospital bill, financial counselors are available in the business office. Financial counselors can be reached at 847-842-4437 and 847-842-4044. The business office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Your insurance company will pay all or some of your hospital bill. Whatever your insurance company does not pay is your responsibility. Major credit cards are accepted methods of payment for your portion of the bill. Bank financing also is available to those who qualify.

Where do I register?
The Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Outpatient Pavilion is located at the west end of the hospital campus. Outpatient services include registration, cardiodiagnostics, chest x-rays, neurological services, phlebotomy, endoscopy, IV therapy, injections, chemotherapy, and respiratory therapy.

What are the Outpatient Pavilion Hours?
Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays, 7 a.m. - 1 p.m.

What do I need to know before my day surgery?
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital provides a day surgery program for patients who don’t require overnight hospitalization. The day surgery department is located on 1-center.

Anesthesia—An anesthesiologist will telephone you approximately one week prior to your surgical procedure to review your anesthetic options with you. The anesthesiologist also will go over the anesthetic procedure as well as answer any questions you may have.

Prior to surgery—You will need to have preadmission testing prior to your surgery. Preadmission testing may include blood work, urine testing, an EKG and chest x-ray. The results of your preadmission testing will be forwarded to your surgeon. A complete medical history and physical is required before surgery and usually is completed by your primary care physician. You may receive a Phisohex sponge at your preadmission testing appointment. If you do, you will need to scrub your surgical area with the soft side of the sponge for ten minutes the day of your surgical procedure.

Family waiting room—Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital has a specially designated family waiting room for the families of our surgery patients. Family members will be notified regarding the status of their loved one’s procedure. A volunteer is in the waiting room to assist family members. Free coffee is available. If you need to leave the area, pagers are provided for your convenience. These can be checked out with the volunteer or a member of the day surgery staff.

Recovery room—After surgery, all patients are taken to the recovery room, generally for one hour. Relatives are not allowed in the recovery room. Following a stay in the recovery room, patients will be taken to the day surgery postoperative area where they are encouraged to become ambulatory and are prepared for discharge. Depending on the type of surgery, patients stay in the post-operative area for at least one hour.

What is the scope of services in the emergency department?
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital is designated as a Level II trauma center. The emergency department is equipped to care for critically ill or injured pediatric patients and has received the Emergency Department Approved Pediatrics (EDAP) state designation. This means Good Shepherd is specially designated to care for pediatric emergency cases.

Cell phones—Patients and visitors are asked to refrain from using a cell phone while in the hospital. Visitors can use cell phones outside the building and pay telephones are located throughout the hospital.

Smoking—To protect and promote the health and wellness of our guests and associates, smoking is prohibited in all areas of the hospital.

Vending machines—Vending machines are available in the emergency department waiting room and on the ground floor in the cafeteria.

Who do I call with a complaint or concern?
It is the goal of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital to provide our
patients and guests with excellent care and service. If we fail to meet
your expectations, please call the Patient Relations Department at 847-842-4875, or write to the Patient Relations Department, Advocate Good Shepherd
Hospital, 450 W. Highway 22, Barrington, IL 60010 or send an email to donna.johnson@advocatehealth.com

Useful Phone Numbers