Patient Rights and Responsibilities

You have the right to:

• Not to be denied participation in all treatment services based on the grounds of race, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, diagnosis, religion, or socio-economic status.
• Considerate and respectful care.
• Reasonable privacy. Your doctor and others caring for you will protect your privacy appropriately.
• Receive visitors, communicate by telephone or mail. If any restrictions are placed on communication, you should receive a full explanation.
• Have a family member, representative or physician of your choice notified promptly of your admission.
• Be well informed about your illness and treatment options by discussing this information with your doctor.
• Assessment and management of pain. Information about pain and pain relief shall be shared. Staff members are committed to pain prevention and management.
• Know the names and roles of people treating you.
• To participate in development and implementation of your plan of care, make decisions regarding your care and be informed of your status.
• Consent to or refuse treatment, as permitted by law, throughout your stay. If you refuse a recommended treatment, you will receive other needed and available care.
• Designate a surrogate decision maker with the same rights of treatment participation as yourself for medical emergencies.
• Consent to photographs of the patient before the patient is photographed, except for identification purposes or documentation or care such as wounds.
• Be informed except in an emergency, of alternatives to a proposed psychotropic medication or surgical procedure and associated risks and possible complications.
• Have an advance directive (Living Will, or Healthcare Proxy, Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, or DNR order or identification). These documents express your choices about your future care or name someone to decide if you cannot speak for yourself. A copy should be provided to YRMC, your family, and your doctor. YRMC staff and practitioner will comply with these directives.
• Expect reasonable access to care and services. Referral or transfer may be recommended if you are medically stable. You will be informed of risks, benefits, and alternatives by your doctor. You will not be transferred until the other institution agrees to accept you. Patients requesting transfer to another facility may be at your expense.
• Access information in your medical records and to have the information explained, except when restricted by law.
• Recognize the effect of life-style on your personal health. Your health depends not just on your hospital care, but in the long term, on the decisions you make in your daily life.
• Expect that treatment records are confidential unless you have given permission to release information or reporting is required or permitted by law.
• Know if this hospital has relationships with outside parties as applicable to your treatment and care.
• Be told of realistic care alternatives when hospital care is no longer appropriate.
• Consent or decline to take part in research or other experimentation affecting your care. If you choose not to take part, you will receive appropriate care.
• A second opinion or specialist consultation regarding your treatment at your expense. This includes the right to request a change in attending physicians.
• Know about hospital rules that affect you and your treatment and about charges and payment methods. This includes obtaining a schedule of rates and charges.
• To know about resources, such as patient representatives or Patient Care Advocates, that can help you resolve problems and questions about your hospital stay and care.
• To receive care in a safe setting, free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, manipulation, sexual abuse or harassment, and to be free from restraints and seclusion used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff that includes misappropriation of personal and private property.
• To have your rights explained in a language you understand. A request for appropriate language assistance when you have Limited English Proficiency (LEP) or have a disability will be provided to the patient free of charge.

If you have any questions about your rights and responsibilities as a patient at Yuma Regional Medical Center, please feel to call our Patient Advocate Office at 928-336-2002.

Quality care also requires a close partnership between you and your care team. As a patient at Yuma Regional Medical Center, you are responsible to:

• Provide information about your health, including past illness, hospital stays and use of medicine and non-prescribed treatments.
• Tell your doctor when you believe you can’t follow through with your treatment.
• Be considerate of the needs of other patients, staff and the hospital by following YRMC rules and regulations concerning patient care and conduct.
• Provide information for insurance and for promptly meeting any financial obligations.

To file a complaint related to your care stay at this facility, contact: Care Advocacy at 928-336-2002 or 928-336-2357.

To report unresolved concerns with YRMC facilities, contact:
Arizona Department of Health Services
Division of Licensing Services
150 North 18th Avenue, Suite 450
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
602-364-3030 or 1-800-221-9968