Patient Rights

Patient Rights

Every patient has the right to:

  • Care and comfort that is considerate, dignified, and respectful regardless of race, religion, creed, sex, age, handicap, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship status, military service, pregnancy, or sexual orientation.
  • Participate in the development and implementation of his or her plan of care.
  • Or his or her representative (as allowed under state law) has the right to make informed decisions regarding his or her care. These rights include being informed of his or her health status, being involved in care planning and treatment, and being able to request or refuse treatment or services deemed medically unnecessary or inappropriate.
  • Formulate advance directives and to have hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in the hospital comply with these directives.
  • Have a family member or representative of his or her choice and his or her own physician notified promptly of his or her admission to the hospital.
  • Personal privacy.
  • Receive care in a safe setting.
  • Be free from all forms of abuse or harassment.
  • The confidentiality of his or her clinical records.
  • Access information contained in his or her clinical records within a reasonable timeframe. The hospital must not frustrate the legitimate efforts of individuals to gain access to their own medical records and must actively seek to meet these requests as quickly as its recordkeeping system permits.
  • Be free from restraints of any form that are not medically necessary or are used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
    • Be free from physical or mental abuse and corporal punishment.
    • Be free from restraint or seclusion, of any form, imposed as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
    • Restraint or seclusion may only be imposed to ensure the immediate physical safety of the patient, a staff member, or others and must be discontinued at the earliest possible time.
  • Be fully informed of and to consent or refuse to participate in any unusual, experimental, or research project without compromising his/her access to services.
  • Know the professional status of any person providing his/her care/services.
  • Know the reasons for any proposed change in the professional staff responsible for his/her care.
  • Know the reasons for his/her transfer either within or outside the hospital.
  • Know the relationship(s) of the hospital to other persons or organizations participating in the provision of his/her care.
  • Access to the cost, itemized when possible, of services rendered within a reasonable period of time.
  • Be informed of the source of the hospital’s reimbursement for his/her services, and of any limitations that may be placed upon his/her care.
  • Be informed of the right to have pain treated as effectively as possible.
  • Be informed of the hospital’s policies and procedures regarding visitation rights of patients, including those setting forth any clinically necessary or reasonable restriction or limitation that the hospital may need to be placed on such rights and the reason for the clinical restriction or limitation. A hospital must meet the following requirements:
    • Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of his or her visitation rights, including any clinical restriction or limitation on such rights, when he or she is informed of his or her other rights under this section.
    • Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of the right, subject to his or her consent, to receive the visitors whom he or she designates, including, but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), another family member, or a friend, and his or her right to withdraw or deny such consent at any time.
    • Not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
    • Ensure that all visitors enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences.
  • The patient’s family has the right of informed consent for donation of organs and tissues.
  • Consultation with the Ethics Committee for assistance in decision-making support of ethical concerns. Caregivers may initiate an Ethics Consult upon request.
  • Voice a complaint and/or grievance related to care or billing practices by contacting the caregiver, department manager, financial counselor, or patient advocate. A written submission of complaint may be mailed to Memorial. The patient or his/her representative may contact the Illinois Department of Public Health at 1-800-252-4343 or 1-800-547-0466 if hearing impaired.