At Catawba Valley Health System, want to make your visit easy and comfortable. These pages show what to expect before, during, and after your visit. Thank you for choosing Catawba Valley Health System to help to take care of your health.
As an incoming patient, there are many things you can do ahead of time to help streamline your visit. These pages contain important reference information and tools to help answer your questions and assure that you are prepared for your stay.
We encourage you to review these pages ahead of time to familiarize yourself – and your loved ones – with the policies and procedures that accompany a patient stay.
If you have scheduled a procedure at our Day Surgery Center, please visit our outpatient surgery page.
Please know that we strive to ensure a good experience for all our patients. As you plan your stay, let us know how we can help you.
Our online pre-registration form is for expecting mothers who plan to deliver in the Women & Children’s Center at CVMC. Pre-registration can help make your arrival and check-in process even more efficient.
We are dedicated to providing you and your visitors the most comfortable stay possible while you are here in our care. An important part of this is ensuring that you are familiar with the many services available to you, as well as with important policies designed to make your stay safer. Our administrative procedures and amenities are designed to make your stay easier, and the only way to take full advantage of them is to know more about them.
Visitors are always welcome at Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) however the comfort and care of patients is our foremost concern. Clinical restrictions may be imposed on a patient’s visitation rights. We discourage anyone from visiting if they are not feeling well themselves. Note: during times of high respiratory illnesses, visitation guidelines may be adjusted from time to time. Special circumstances, including compassionate care visits, will be evaluated by leadership. Please ask your nurse for current guidelines. CVMC shall allow a clergy member to visit any patient admitted to the hospital who requests or consents to be visited by a clergy member, including during a declared disaster or emergency.
To facilitate healing, we ask that visitors keep noise levels to a minimum. If you find the noise level in or around your room disturbing, please let your nurse know. We ask that visitors observe health laws requiring proper dress, including shoes and shirt, when visiting patients.
If you feel your visitation rights have been violated and staff responses have not resolved concerns, complaints may be filed with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Service Regulation. Contact information is provided on page 15 of the patient guide.
Catawba County ordinance prohibits smoking on all county property so please obey the ‘No Smoking’ policy on all hospital property. See page 11 of the patient guide for more detail.
To learn more about your upcoming stay at Catawba Valley Medical Center, view our Patient Guide.
Welcome to Catawba Valley Health System from the Catawba Valley Hospitalists. It is our privilege to serve as your doctor during your visit to the hospital. Hospitalists are experts trained in internal medicine and specialize in in-hospital care. We are dedicated to delivering excellent hospital care 24 hours per day.
Your hospitalist will visit you every day during your stay. This visit may occur at any time between 7am and 5pm. If you have a specific need to plan a time for your visit, please ask your nurse to notify your hospitalist.
There is always a hospitalist available in the hospital. If you have an emergency after hours, you may be evaluated by another member of our hospitalist team. Depending on how long you are here, your care may be transitioned to another hospitalist. If there is a transition of care, your provider will notify you in advance.
During your stay, we will serve as your primary care provider. At discharge, we will communicate the details of your stay to your outpatient primary care physician. When you are ready for discharge, your care will be transitioned back to your primary care provider with recommendations for appropriate follow up appointments, and any additional testing or treatments you may require.
At Catawba Valley Health System, our care for our patients extends beyond their stay with us. We provide access to many valuable resources – including a variety of health-related programs, screenings, and educational courses – to help our patients achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle after care. We encourage you and your loved ones to take advantage of these resources.
At Catawba Valley Health System, we believe health care equity is a fundamental value that shapes our approach to healthcare which coincides with our mission of Exceptional HealthCare. Every Person. Every Time. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and heard.
We know that providing world-class health care, applying evidenced-based practice research to enhance patient care, and offering an experiential education would not be possible without drawing on the rich backgrounds of all of our team members. When everyone feels valued and respected, we do our best work.
We invite you to explore our services, meet our compassionate staff, and experience healthcare that celebrates the richness of our mission in providing Exceptional HealthCare. Every Person. Every Time.
Access to Care: Patients have the right to impartial access to medically indicated treatment, services, and care and can expect to have emergency procedures implemented without delay. Patients have the right to assistive devices or animals.
Respect: Patients have the right to considerate and respectful care given by competent personnel.
Dignity: Patients have the right to be treated with dignity.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Patients have the right to expect that any discussion and all written communications, pertaining to their care be treated as confidential.
Personal Safety: Patients have the right to expect reasonable safety precautions be taken, in terms of practices and the environment in which care is provided. Patients have the right to be free from restraints that are not medically necessary.
Identity: Patients have the right to know the identity, professional status and professional relationships of those providing services, including knowing who is primarily responsible for their care.
Information: Patients have the right to be informed about the outcomes of their care.
Communication: Patients have the right to verbal and written communications and access to people that are authorized to act on the patient’s behalf to assert or protect their rights. When the patient does not understand the predominant language of the community or is hearing impaired, access to an interpreter will be provided.
Visitation: Patients have the right to receive the visitors whom he or she designates. All visitors will enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences and a “support person” may be identified by the patient.
Consent: Patients have the right to informed participation in decisions involving their health care, treatment and services.
Consultation: Patients have the right to consult with a specialist.
Participation in the Plan of Care: Patients have the right to participate in the development, implementation and revision of his/her plan of care, and to have family and their own physician promptly notified of his/her admission to the hospital. Patients may refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and are informed of the medical consequences of such refusal.
Knowledge of Continuing Care Needs: Patients may not be transferred to other facilities unless they have received complete explanation of the need for the transfer and the transfer is acceptable to the patient and the other facility.
Comfort: Patients have the right to quick response directed to optimize pain management.
Financial Explanation: Patients have the right to request and receive an itemized and detailed explanation of their total bill.
Hospital Rules and Regulations: Patients have the right to access to the hospital rules and regulations applicable to their conduct as a patient.
Grievances: Patients have the right to expect that care and services are provided in a timely, reasonable and consistent manner. When a patient issue cannot be resolved promptly by the staff present, the patient has the right to file a formal grievance.
Children and Teens: Children and teens have the right to make choices and let our staff know how they want to be involved in their care. Children’s right to grow, play, learn, rest and feel secure will be respected.
Our goal at CVMC is provide each patient and family with a satisfying experience. If for some reason your complaints are not resolved while you are a patient, you may ask to speak with the Nurse Manager or you can contact the Patient Advocate at (828) 326-3720. If concerns remain, you may file a formal, written or verbal grievance. Grievances may be filed with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities, the Joint Commission, or the Carolina Center for Medical Excellence. Contact information for each is provided below.
Catawba Valley Health System is licensed and regulated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation. The state agency is responsible for the enforcement of rules applicable to hospitals. If a patient and/or patient’s designee wished, the agency may be contacted:
North Carolina Department of Health and Human ServicesThe Disability Rights of North Carolina has the power to investigate complaints at any 24-hour behavioral health facility in the state. To contact Disability Rights of North Carolina, please call 1-877-235-4210 or email info@disabilityrightsnc.org.
All departments at Catawba Valley Medical Center are accredited by The Joint Commission, whose mission is to monitor healthcare organizations’ compliance with patient quality and safety of care standards. If a patient and/or patient’s designee wishes, The Joint Commission may be contacted at (800) 994-6610 or patientsafetyreport@jointcommission.org. To report a safety event about a health care organization to The Joint Commission online, complete this form.
Medicare patients have the right to submit a complaint regarding quality of care, disagreement with a coverage decision or appeal a perceived premature discharge to Acentra, The Quality Improvement Organization (QIO). Acentra may be contacted at (888) 317-0751 or via TTY at 711.
*A TTY (teletypewriter) is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate.
If you would like a more detailed description of these patient rights, please ask your nurse, healthcare provider or call (828) 326-3720.
Catawba Valley Health System complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. CVMC does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.
Catawba Valley Health System:
If you believe that CVMC has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex, you can file a grievance with: CVMC Civil Rights Coordinator, 828.732.7303 or civilrights@cvmc.us. You can file a grievance in person or by mail, or email. If you need help filing a grievance, the CVMC Civil Rights Coordinator is available to help you.
You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone.
U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesComplaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.
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