While You're Here

At Thompson Health, you will receive the best medical care in a comforting, healing environment. Every Associate you come in contact with has your health and safety as an utmost concern. We also would like your family and friends to feel welcome and relaxed when they visit the hospital, so we provide various services and amenities that make them more comfortable as well.

Caring for You

Many people will be involved in your care while you are a patient at Thompson Health.  Our goal is to give you the best quality care while providing prompt and friendly service.  The people who you will see directly include:

Doctors
While at Thompson, you will be cared for by a Hospitalist.  A Hospitalist is a medical doctor who specializes in the care of patients in the hospital. The Hospitalist will take care of you throughout your stay and will work closely with every specialist and department in the hospital.  Your family doctor may still visit you during your hospital stay, however your hospitalization remains under the direction of the Hospitalist.

For more information about the Hospitalist Program at Thompson Health, please call (585) 396-6129.

Nurses
Nurses are responsible for working with the Hospitalist to create a plan of care, regularly check your progress, implement your doctor’s orders, and make sure that your needs are met while you are in the hospital.  Nurses also assist in treating and educating patients about various medical conditions, administering medications, and providing advice and emotional support to patients and family members.

Specialists
This can include physical therapists, respiratory therapists, speech pathologist, dietitians, pharmacists, radiology technicians or phlebotomists.  These are just some of the many people who will give you the care you need to get you on the road to recovery.

Social Worker
Social Work Services play an important part of your hospital care. A social worker or discharge planner is assigned to each floor. They will assist you and your family in planning your discharge from the Hospital. Your social worker or discharge planner will help you find services you may need after you leave the Hospital (e.g. home care) and will help in the transition to another care facility if necessary. Social Workers are available to assist you in understanding and completing Advance Medical Directives, such as a Health Care Proxy or Living Will.  If you are interested in contacting a Social Worker, please notify your nurse or doctor.

Volunteers
Thompson Health Volunteers help out in many areas of the hospital, including the transporting and discharging of patients, delivery of flowers and newspapers to patients, and assisting in completing and collecting menu cards.  Thompson Health Volunteers are easily identified by their pink smocks and photo ID badges.

Meals & Snacks

Our goal is to prepare and serve you an appetizing, healthy meal. Our meals are all made from scratch, so that we can better control the ingredients (sodium, sugar, etc.) being served to our patients.

If you have a food allergy or intolerance, we will prepare your food accordingly. We also consider any other special diet needs when we prepare your meal. We ask that visitors not bring food or beverages to patients unless approved by the doctor, dietician, or nurse.

Special Diets
While you are in the hospital, your doctor may request a special diet such as CLEAR LIQUID, COMFORT FOODS, LOW SODIUM, LOW CHOLESTEROL or DIABETIC diets. Some patients find that their physician orders are less restrictive than at home. This is because calories and food intake are an important part of recovery.

If you are having surgery or certain tests, you may need to restrict food and/or drink for a short period of time. If this is so, we will let you know before the procedure.

Meals
Meals are served three times a day: 
Breakfast 7:30am - 8:30am 
Lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm 
Dinner 4:30pm - 5:30pm

If for some reason you miss one of the main meals, we can arrange a box meal or special late tray for you.

Snacks
Snacks are available on each unit if you are hungry between meals and don’t have any diet restrictions. Ask us for such items as beverages, crackers or other foods 24 hours a day.

Questions
If you have questions about your diet, please ask your nurse. If needed, we can ask a representative from Nutrition Services to talk to you about any special diet information you need.

Cards & Flowers

Your cards, flowers and gifts will be brought to your room by staff or volunteers. Mail received after you leave the hospital will be forwarded to your home address.

Your family and friends can send a message to your loved one via our Health-E-Gram feature. Health-E-Gram messages are hand-delivered to patients Monday through Friday by Thompson Health volunteers.

If you would like to order flowers to send to a loved one in the hospital, please call local florists.

Flowers are not permitted in the Intensive Care Unit.  Flowers delivered by local florists will be sent back to the florist for home delivery.

Your Room

Your room includes a special hospital bed, a bedside stand for your personal belongings, a telephone, an over-bed table and a small closet space.

Your Bed
Your bed can be adjusted. Sometimes you need to keep your bed in a certain position for medical reasons. Most of the time, however, we can help you adjust your bed for your own comfort. Ask a staff member to show you how to use the controls.

Nurses Call Button
The call button is located on the remote control at your bedside.  When you press the button, the nurses’ desk is notified that you are calling.  Someone will answer your call as soon as possible.  There is also a call button in the bathroom.  It is best to ask assistance before you get out of bed.

Telephone and Television Services
Telephone and Television services are available free of charge in every room. 

All rooms are equipped with cable television in which you will find a variety of news, sports, and entertainment channels. Below is the complete channel guide. Based on availability, we will try to accommodate pediatric patients with a VCR and children’s movies.

Channel Guide
2 WXXI / Educational Access 
3 WSTM (3) Syracuse NBC 
4 WCNY (24) Syracuse PBS 
5 WTVH (5) Syracuse CBS 
6 WSYT (68) Syracuse Fox 
7 WUHF (31) Rochester Fox 
8 WROC (8) Rochester CBS 
9 WIXT (9) Syracuse ABC 
10 WHEC (10) Rochester NBC 
11 WXXI (21) Rochester PBS 
12 FLTV 
13 WOKR (13) Rochester 
14 R NEWS 
15 Community Access 
16 The CW Network / WNYI (ch52) 
17 QVC 
18 mynetworkTV 
19 PAX TV 
20 CNN 61 Home Shopping Network
21 TNT 
22 The Discovery Channel 
23 The Weather Channel 
24 ESPN 
25 ESPN 2
26 TSWN – Rochester’s Sports Net 
27 Spike TV 
28 MTV 
29 VH1 East 
30 Nickelodeon East 
31 ABC Family East 
32 USA Network East
33 Headline News 
34 American Movie Classics 
35 Lifetime Television East 
36 Country Music Television
37 A & E
38 Comedy Central East
39 E! Entertainment 
40 Travel Channel 
41 BET 
42 Univision
 
  43 Court TV 
44 C-Span
45 Food Network
46 Sports Net New York
47 CNBC
48 MSNBC
49 CNBC Consumer News
50 Trinity Broadcasting Network
51 Madison Square Garden
52 The Learning Channel
53 Fox Sports NY
54 Bravo
55 Movieplex
56 Animal Planet
57 Fox News Channel
58 Cartoon Network East
59 Sci-Fi Channel
60 Turner Classic Movies
62 Home & Garden TV
63 The History Channel
64 TV Land
65 TBS
66 Lifetime Movie Network East
67 FX East
68 The Disney Channel East
69 The Golf Channel
70 Oxygen
71 SoapNet
72 WE Women’s Entertainment
73 National Geographic
74 YES (Yankees)
75 VS
76 Discovery Health
77 C-Span2
78 Hallmark
82 Patient Education
83 SLO-TV (Relaxation Videos)
84 Hospital Information Channel
97 TV Guide Channel
98 Rochester Channel 98