Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center

Visitor Information

You or your representative has the right to consent to receive visitors whom you designate, including, but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), another family member or a friend. You also have the right to withdraw or deny such consent at any time.

The health facility is not permitted to restrict, limit or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation or disability. All visitors should enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences.

To accommodate our patients, please follow these guidelines:

• All hospital doors remain open until 8:30 PM. Emergency Department doors are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• In general, visiting hours are from 8:00 AM to 8:30 PM daily. Visiting hours vary by floor or unit, like the ICU. Ask the nurse for your floor’s visiting hours.
• Children may visit with adult supervision. Children under age 12 are not allowed in the ICU.
• We encourage one visitor at a time to spend the night in a patient’s room.
• Certain patient care areas limit visitation. Please ask the nurse for visiting hours and policies for these areas.
• Visitors need permission from the patient’s doctor to bring food for a patient. Visitors may eat in the patient’s room.
• All visitors should behave in a responsible manner. Any visitor who exhibits threatening behavior or uses abusive or profane language will be asked to leave the hospital.
• Visitors may be asked to leave the room so it can be cleaned.

Visitation Guidelines and Procedures

Visiting Hours

• 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, only two visitors at a time are allowed.
• 8:30 PM to 6:00 AM, only one visitor is allowed.
• For your health, we encourage you to go home and rest in the evenings.
• Children under age 12 are not permitted to visit patients in the ICU.
• Special visiting requests for children under age 12 or for close friends are considered by the physician and nurse manager/charge nurse on an individual basis.
• Call the nursing staff using the telephones in the waiting area or near the ICU doors for visitor approval.
• Only one adult family member (age 18 or older) is permitted to stay in a patient’s room overnight for patients age 18 and younger.
• All visitors must remain in the patient’s room while visiting the patient.
• Beds, linen and bathing accommodations cannot be provided for family members.
• Visitors are not permitted to use patient bathrooms or other patient facilities.
• Use the ICU waiting areas for gathering and talking with others. Please do not linger at the nurses station or in the hallways.
• Visitors are not allowed during unit emergencies.
• Visitors may be asked to leave when patient care is being given. Nursing staff will explain why to visitors.
• There may be times during visitation when visits are restricted or suspended for the patient’s recovery.
• If, at any time, the hospital staff feels a visitor is being disruptive and/or is a threat to the care and safety of patients, visitors or hospital team members, that visitor will be asked to leave the hospital.
• Food and drinks are prohibited in ICU patient rooms.
• No live plants or cut flowers are allowed in the ICU.
• Please obtain approval from the nurse before using any electrical devices.
• Do not visit if you have had a fever, chills, sore throat, cough, vomiting or diarrhea in the previous 48 hours.

Visiting the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

The ICU is composed of four units:

2 Tower

• Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU); Rooms 248-269
• Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU); Rooms 229-240
• Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU); Rooms 270-279

3 Tower

• Neurological Intensive Care Unit (Ne-ICU); Rooms 301-312

ICU Waiting Room

Family and friends should wait in the ICU waiting room. Nurses and physicians will look for family members in the waiting room if they have questions or need to speak with them. During regular hours, a concierge is available to answer phones and your questions, and to give directions through the facility.

Please be courteous and use an inside voice while using your phone in the waiting room. Small food items, such as drinks and small snacks, are allowed in the waiting room. You also may use the Courtyard Café located in the basement.

Communication

Designating a Spokesperson

Visitors should choose one primary spokesperson or contact to communicate with our physicians and nurses about your loved one. This person can share information and updates with others. Please provide the telephone number(s) for this person so we can reach him or her. If we receive outside calls, we will direct them to this designated contact.

Patient Privacy and Passwords

Federal HIPAA privacy laws only allow information to be shared with authorized people.

Please provide a password when asking for patient information and be careful about sharing this password with others.

Interpreter Services

An interpreter service is available for the hearing impaired and non-English-speaking guests. Ask your nurse or the concierge for these services.

Questions for the Healthcare Team

We encourage you to ask questions privately outside the patient room or in a designated area. Our physicians try to meet with families daily to update them on the patient’s progress. Families should make a list of questions for the physician and ask them during this time.

Trauma Visitor Services

On-campus accommodations available for the families of trauma patients are available at The Manley House. Call Security Services for more information (404) 265-5000.