When you arrive, a member of our patient care team will show you where the button to call for your nurse is located in your room and how to use it. When you need assistance, you may press this button, which sends an alert to the nursing station and causes a red light to flash above your door. Your nurse or another member of our patient care team will respond to your call as soon as possible.
Our housekeeping team should stop by to clean your room once a day between 7:30 am and 4 pm. Bed linens are not changed every day, but fresh linens are available upon request. Our staff is also available around-the-clock for spills, accidents or other emergency cleaning needs.
If you need your room cleaned, would like fresh linens or a need for emergency cleaning services arises, please ask a member of your patient care team to call the service response center for you.
Free wireless Internet access is available on all patient units, in our cafeterias and the Atrium. You may bring your mobile device or laptop computer to the hospital. However, we remind all patients that Yale New Haven Hospital is not responsible for your personal belongings. Please keep electronic devices in a safe place while staying at or visiting the hospital. Ask a member of your patient care team about storing them in one of the safes available in many patient care units.
All patient rooms have a bathroom for patient use only. Your visitors should use one of the public restroom on your floor or another public area of the hospital. A member of your patient care team can direct visitors to the nearest public restroom.
The hospital's service response center (SRC) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to issues related to housekeeping, cleanliness, patient equipment, general maintenance, patient transport services and more. If you have needs that relate to these areas, ask a staff member to call the service response center for you.
Unless directed by your physician not to, you may use the shower in your room at your convenience. If you are in a semi-private room with a shower, please be considerate of your roommate. If there is not a shower in the room and you would like to take one, please ask a member of your patient care team for assistance.
You may use the telephone in your room or your own cell phone or mobile device to make and receive calls during your stay. As a courtesy to all of our patients, we ask you to respect our policies regarding the use phones in the hospital at all times.
Making Calls
Follow these instructions when making calls from the telephone in your room. Remember, you must dial the area code when making any call within Connecticut, even if it is a local number.
Local calls: Dial 9 + the phone number
Toll-free calls: Dial 9 + 1 + the phone number
Internal (688) calls: Dial 8 + last four digits of the phone number
Long-distance calls: 9 + 1 + a telephone calling card number (then follow your calling card instructions)
Quiet Hours
To help you and other patients sleep through the night, incoming calls to your room will not go through between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. If someone needs to reach you during that time, have them call the main nurse's station number on your floor or unit. You can make outgoing calls at any time.
Cell Phones
Cell phones (and mobile devices) should not be used in certain areas of the hospital. Please observe posted signs in areas where they are not allowed.
Public Phones
There are numerous public phones around the hospital, as well as TTY/TTD phones for the hearing impaired or deaf. A member of your patient care team can direct you or your visitors to the nearest one.
Use your "inside" voice
When making any phone call, please keep your voice low and ask others to do the same. If staff, visitors or other patients are speaking too loudly, ask a member of your patient care team to address the issue.
Television and XM satellite radio service is available in each patient room and, on some floors, in the lounge area-free of charge. If you share a semi-private room, we kindly ask you to turn off your TV at 11 pm. Headsets are available; ask a nurse or member of your patient care team for assistance if you'd like one.
If you experience difficulty with your TV, ask a staff member for help or call our service response center directly at 203-688-9000.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to keep track of your belongings while staying in or visiting the hospital. Yale New Haven Hospital is not responsible for your or your visitors' personal property. Please send jewelry, excessive amounts of money, credit cards, radios, CD players, iPods® and other valuables home with a family member. Please bring only the items you will need during your stay and label them with your name. Many inpatient units have a safe that can be used to secure valuables (jewelry, wallets, etc.) when you are away from the room.
General visiting hours at the hospital are 11 am - 8 pm. However, visiting hours and policies vary from unit to unit. Please see our visiting hours page for complete details before your visit.
All visitors need to obtain a pass from either information desk located at the main 20 York Street or Children's Hospital entrances. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult at times.
