When your physician decides you are ready to leave and has authorized your discharge, the medical center's staff will help make all the necessary arrangements for you to go home. We encourage you to make advance arrangements with family members or friends for transportation.
Capital Region has a designated time of noon on the day of discharge. Your physician and your nurse will give you instructions about post-hospital care. This will include specifics such as diet instructions, medications, limitations on exercise or daily activities, and discussion of any supplies or equipment you need to maintain the progress you have made while in the medical center. If you have questions, please be sure to ask your physician or nurse.
If mail arrives for you after discharge, it will be forwarded to the address given to the hospital upon admission.
When you are ready to leave, collect all of your belongings and double-check closets and drawers. If you have any personal belongings stored in the safe, they must be picked up at the business office in the front lobby. A member of the medical center staff or a volunteer will escort you to an entrance and help you into the car.
Social work
When you leave the medical center, you may have special needs. Capital Region Medical Center provides a spectrum of discharge planning and home health services to help you deal with the transition from the medical center. Whether you need visiting skilled nursing services, rehabilitative services, nursing home placement, financial assistance, physical therapy or other support programs, the social work department can help.
Social workers also provide valuable assistance for patients and families with emotional, social, environmental, financial and family difficulties that may arise. Social workers help with referrals for needed medical center or community resources, or with planning for care following discharge from the medical center. The social workers can also help answer questions about advance healthcare directives, Medicare and Medicaid. For more information, call 573.632.5000, ext. 5493.