Your Accommodations
We make every effort to arrange the kind of accommodations that you prefer and your physician recommends. All accommodations are subject to room availability. Some private rooms are available. If you request a private room on admission and one is available, there is a deposit due at that time which can be made by check, cash or major credit card. You will be billed for the difference between the semi-private room and a private room. Insurance plans do not cover this additional charge.
Your hospital bed is electrically operated, and your nurse will show you how to work your bed properly. Hospital beds are higher and narrower than most beds. Bedside rails are for your protection. They may be raised at night or during the day while resting.
A call button attached to a cable is placed within your reach. You may use the button to call for assistance. A staff member will respond to your signal as soon as possible. Patient bathrooms are also equipped with an Emergency Call System.
Please stay in your bed after you have been settled for the night. Strange surroundings and sleeping medications may create a hazard if you get out of bed. If you must get out of bed though, please use your call button.
Television Service
NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester (formerly Lawrence Hospital) offers access to DIRECTV and local cable channels for a fee of $7 per day. To activate your TV, dial ext. 5005 and follow the instructions. Charges for this service can be placed on your home telephone bill or credit card. Please be considerate of other patients by playing your TV softly and turning it off at bedtime. Earphones are available at the nurses’ station.
Patient Education Television Programming
The Maternal Child Health Department offers complimentary educational health information on TVs in the Maternity Unit.
Channel 87 offers all inpatients relaxing, soft music for their listening enjoyment.
Telephone Service
NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester (formerly Lawrence Hospital) provides telephones in each patient room except in the Critical Care Unit. There is a daily charge of $6, which is inclusive of area codes 914, 212, 718, and 845. To activate your service, dial “0” for the Hospital operator. To make a call, dial “9” to get an outside line and then dial the phone number.
Cell Phones
Cell phone usage is permitted but please be respectful of others.
Mail and packages will be delivered to you by a hospital volunteer. Outgoing mail may be taken to the nursing station or given to your attending nurse. Patient mail received after discharge will be forwarded to the patient’s home.
Medications
All medications you take while you are in the hospital are prescribed by your doctor, checked by the hospital pharmacy and administered by a nurse. Patients are not permitted to administer their own drugs or keep personal medications at their bedside. If your doctor approved the use of your own medication it must be reviewed and labeled by the pharmacy department before administration by a nurse.
Smoking
Smoking is strictly prohibited anywhere in the hospital or on hospital grounds.
Electrical Appliances
Electrical appliances including hair dryers, curling irons, razors, radios, heating pads, portable heaters, VCRs, computers, and other devices are not permitted in patient rooms due to fire risk. You may use only battery-operated devices.
Meal Service
At Lawrence, meal service is provided in the form of Expressly For You Dining and supported by Nutrition Ambassadors. Ambassadors are the food service professionals responsible for your meal service. Approximately two hours before each meal period, an ambassador will visit you to take your order (Breakfast orders for the next day are taken after dinner). Patients are served breakfast between 8:00am and 9:00am. Lunch is served between 12:00pm and 1:00pm. Dinner between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. Should you be on a special diet while you are in the hospital, your ambassador will offer you choices which are tailored to the diet that your Doctor has ordered for you. Should you have any questions regarding your diet, you may request to speak with one of our staff Dietitians.
Bringing food in from the outside
Each unit has a pantry with a refrigerator. The refrigerator is stocked with juice, milk, Jell-O, pudding and applesauce. Before taking something from the pantry please ask your nurse if it is compliant with your diet. Food from the outside must have your name, be dated and can be kept in the pantry refrigerator for 24 hours. For food safety and sanitation reasons, unlabeled food items will be discarded.