Your Stay at the Hospital
Know what to expect during your inpatient stay
Your Inpatient Care
At Anna Jaques Hospital, we’re dedicated to giving you the best care possible for your illness, injury or surgery. Our care teams work closely with your doctor.
Together, we create a care plan that provides the services you need for an optimal stay and recovery. We believe in a family-centered approach to patient care. As a result, we encourage you and your family to partner with your health care team during your hospital stay.
At Anna Jaques, we follow robust safety measures and COVID-19 protocols to keep you healthy.
Take time to understand your rights and responsibilities as a patient at Anna Jaques.
Your Private Patient Room
Most patients who stay overnight at Anna Jaques Hospital enjoy a private room.
We believe single rooms enhance comfort, healing, privacy and safety. Thanks to a generous donation from the Institution for Savings Bank, private rooms are available at no extra cost to patients or insurance companies.
We believe private rooms help:
- Improve infection control throughout the unit.
- Provide patients with a positive environment for healing.
- Provide privacy for medical discussions and treatments.
- Reduce noise in the patient’s environment.
Your patient room includes:
- A private bathroom and shower
- A chair or couch that becomes a bed for a loved one to spend the night.
- A flat-screen TV
- Photography and paintings by local artists, depicting beautiful, often recognizable, scenes from the surrounding community.
- A window with a view
The nurses’ station is located away from patient rooms to reduce noise and commotion and allow for more privacy.
A nearby patio provides a serene getaway for patients, families and the staff.
Talking with Your Care Team
If you need urgent help at any time, use the nurse intercom call system attached to your bed, or use the emergency call button in the bathroom. A patient care team member will respond right away.
If you have questions about your care, please talk to your doctor, nurse or another member of your care team. You also can contact the hospital’s Case Management team at 978-463-1165 with any needs, comments or concerns.
If you use American Sign Language, don’t speak English or need help communicating with us, we can provide an interpreter or other language assistance.
A social worker may contact you. Our case managers help with care planning, provide counseling and connect you and your family to resources during and after your hospital stay.
Conveniences & Services
At Anna Jaques we offer many amenities for patients and visitors. These include options for dining, snacks and a gift shop.
Visiting Hours & Policies
Family and friends of patients can generally visit between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm each day. Find helpful information about visiting hours and policies.
Patient Information
Call us at 978-463-1000 for updates about a friend or family member in the hospital. Please understand that the information we can share is set by federal privacy laws.
How To Prepare for Your Stay
We want your hospital stay to be comfortable and worry-free. Learn how to prepare for your stay.
Your doctor instructs you when to pre-register and schedule any imaging or tests you need before your hospital stay or surgery.
Call our scheduling department at 978-834-8210 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, to schedule any testing you need. We also provide a date for your pre-operative telephone assessment with a nurse. During this call, a nurse:
- Asks questions about your medical history.
- Provides detailed instructions about other appointments or testing you need.
Our admissions team may contact you to review your insurance information. You may contact the Admissions Office at 978-463-1044.
Learn more about financial assistance for those who qualify.
Your doctor will share any other information you need to prepare for your visit.
Learn what to expect during your surgery or your child’s surgery.
Consider packing these items as you prepare for your hospital stay:
- A list of your current medicines, including name, dose and how often you take it.
- A list of allergies, including medications to which you are allergic.
- Comfortable clothes and personal items, such as your favorite robe, sleepwear, slippers and toiletries.
- Your insurance card and ID.
- A copy of any advance directive, health care proxy or living will.
- Dentures, eyeglasses and hearing aids. Please label containers with your name. Our nursing staff will put these items in special containers so you can keep track of them.
Please leave these items at home:
- Credit cards
- Jewelry
- Large amounts of cash
- Valuables
Anna Jaques Hospital is not responsible for lost or missing personal items and valuables.
When you arrive at Anna Jaques Hospital for testing, surgery or to be admitted to the hospital, please park in the main parking lot.
We provide valet parking at the covered walkway for your convenience from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. Walk along the covered walkway to the atrium. The Pre-Op Testing and Surgical Services entrance is on your left.
When you arrive, an admissions representative will talk with you or a family member in a private space. You’ll be asked to provide:
- Advance directives and health care proxy form, if you have them.
- Any doctor’s orders or laboratory slips.
- Driver’s license or other ID.
- Insurance cards and information.
- List of medications you take.
- Updated personal information (ethnicity, preferred language, emergency contacts).
Once you are checked in, a nurse will help you prepare for your procedure. This takes about 30 minutes. During this time the nurse will:
- Verify your information.
- Make sure you sign the surgical consent form.
- Document all necessary information in your chart.
- Ask you to change into a hospital gown.
- Discuss your planned procedure with you.
- Conduct a full assessment of your health.
- Explain everything that will happen, including IV insertions, pre-operative medications, diagnostic testing and lab studies.
- Introduce you to an anesthesiologist. They will match your medical condition with the most appropriate anesthesia.
Once your surgery begins, your family members or support persons can wait in the main lobby. We provide a pager to notify escorts who stay at the hospital when you are out of surgery.
At Anna Jaques Hospital, we use a surgical tracker so your escort can follow your progress through surgery and recovery.
You spend at least an hour in the recovery room, where we monitor your condition as you wake up. If appropriate, your family can visit with you there. After time in the recovery room, we transfer you to an inpatient room if you are staying overnight.
Your care team and your case manager work together to make sure you get the continuing care you need when you leave the hospital. We identify your continuing needs early in your stay so that you can transition as soon as possible.
If appropriate, we coordinate a move to an extended care facility. Or we can arrange for assistive services at your home.
Your doctor decides when you are ready to leave the hospital. Before you leave, we give you and your family information and instructions about your post-hospital care.
If you have questions about your discharge plan, talk to your nurse or call your case manager at 978-463-1165.
