Planning for Your Discharge

Discussion about your discharge begins when you are admitted. When it is time for you to leave the hospital, your physician will write a discharge order. Upon discharge from the hospital, you will receive your follow-up instructions and prescriptions from your nurse.

Upon discharge, you will receive a packet and instruction sheet. The sheet includes a medication schedule, activity limitations, special diet orders and the date of a follow-up appointment with your physician. This instruction sheet will be reviewed with you and your family. During this time, please be sure to ask any questions and tell us any concerns you may have about your discharge. You will also receive a survey at your home address with specific questions about your admission and the courtesy of our admitting staff. You will also be asked to rate the services you received at Lowell General Hospital.

Before leaving, check your room for personal belongings and request any medication that was brought from home and held for you in our pharmacy, as well as any belongings that you might have placed in the hospital vault for safekeeping. Your friends or relatives may park their cars briefly in front of the main entrance to pick you up. A bus stops at the main entrance of the hospital at regular intervals. You can request information from the Concierge Desk or call the Bus Information Line at the Lowell Regional Transit Authority at (978) 452-6161. If you prefer, you may call a cab from the hospital.

If you should require a visiting nurse service or a transfer to a rehabilitation facility, you and/or your family will meet with a case manager who will identify and arrange appropriate services with your consent. Your case manager can also help you obtain necessary medical equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, hospital beds and oxygen if necessary and if ordered by your attending physician.