Inpatient and Observation Information

What You Should Know During Your Stay - Learn more about Discharge Information, Observation Unit, Visiting Hours, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Screening, Phone Calls, Gift Shop, Chaplaincy Services, Personal Electrical Equipment, Valuables and Personal Belongings, Vehicle Security and more

Discharge Information

Patients are discharged according to doctor's orders and with the patient's best interests in mind. Our goal is to have our patients return home by noon. Patients should plan in advance for their loved ones to arrive at the hospital for an 11 a.m. discharge, when patients often feel their best, making the transition from hospital to home a little easier.

Observation Unit

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have established guidelines for inpatient and observation status. The Observation Unit is intended for short-term monitoring and testing for a specific symptom or condition while your physician determines if you require further treatment and admission to the hospital. Your stay may range from eight hours to 48 hours and is considered an outpatient visit. Please note that Eisenhower Health must adhere to CMS regulations.

What You Need to Know About Outpatient Observation

Your physician has determined that you do not need admission to the acute inpatient hospital, but that your condition warrants extra monitoring following your procedure, or emergency visit. Your expected stay in the Outpatient Observation Unit will most likely be less than 48 hours. Your stay is billed as an outpatient visit under Medicare Part B coverage. In general, this means you are responsible for each individual outpatient hospital co-payment or deductibles that may apply. This amount will vary depending of services utilized. Medicare Part B covers most of your physician services during your stay; you will pay 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount after you pay the Part B deductible. While in the OOU, our nurses will administer medications prescribed by your physician. If you have Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D), these drugs may be covered in certain situations. If you do not carry Part D coverage, you may need to pay out-of-pocket for these medications and submit a claim to your drug plan for reimbursement.

For more detailed information regarding Medicare coverage for outpatient hospital services, you may call 800-633-4227 or visit medicare.gov/publications to review the “Medicare & You” handbook and “How Medicare Covers Self-Administered Drugs Given in Hospital Outpatient Settings.” You may also speak to one of our highly skilled Case Managers to gain an understanding of your hospital status.

Visiting Hours

Eisenhower Health welcomes visitors to see patients around the clock. Our number one priority is to keep our patients, visitors and hospital community safe while maintaining high-quality care. In order to maintain a safe environment during these extraordinary times, we have temporarily modified hospital visitation in accordance with guidelines established by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Screening

Upon arrival, visitors will be screened. Effective August 11, 2021, the California Department of Public Health will require hospitals to verify documentation that visitors are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. For unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated visitors, hospitals will need to verify documentation of a negative COVID-19 test collected within 72-hours before each visit. Visitors who do not have the required documentation or who present with visible signs of respiratory illness, COVID-19 symptoms or present with fever when screened will not be permitted to visit. Visitors who were COVID-19 positive in the last three months will need to bring documentation of a positive COVID-19 tests performed within the last three months. The visitor must be 10 days out from the date of the positive test and must have completed quarantine. This test must be performed with an FDA-authorized test or a CLIA-certified lab; no home tests will be accepted.

To safeguard against the spread of infection, at this time visitors are not allowed in the cafeteria or common areas of the hospital. This will serve to protect our most vulnerable patients from potential exposure.

Per CDPH recommendations, Eisenhower Health permits all patients on non-COVID-19 units to have up to two visitors from the same household at the same time, provided physical distancing can be accomplished and visitors comply with hospital visitation guidelines. Visitors must wear a mask at all times, including in the patient room, even if they have been vaccinated. Please note that only two visitors at one time are allowed per patient.

Patients who have COVID-19 disease and are under combined precautions isolation may have one visitor (same person for the hospitalization period), 18 years or older, for no longer than 15 minutes daily between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Please speak with an employee on the unit where your loved one is a patient to arrange visitation. Visitors to COVID-19 units will be escorted to and from the unit and will be assisted with maintaining appropriate levels of protective equipment during their visit. Visitation for patients believed to be at end of life due to COVID-19 will be arranged by the patient's care team in conjunction with the patient's loved ones.

Eisenhower Health will continue to support virtual visits through electronic means and encourage people to stay connected with their loved ones on these units through phone calls, Skype, FaceTime, etc. Thank you for your understanding as we continue to protect our patients and staff.

Phone Calls

Should a family member or loved one wish to call a patient, they may call the main hospital number at 760-340-3911 and ask for the patient by name. Patients will be asked at admitting if they would like to limit who can contact them during their hospital stay. If limitations have been placed on visitors, the patient will not receive phone calls, cards, flowers or visitors to their room. This is at the patient’s discretion.

• Patients wishing to call a local number from their room should press the # key followed by 1 and the 10 digit number.