Patient Guide 
Key Information for Your Stay

Fast Facts for Your Stay

Fast Facts for Your Stay

An A-Z Guide to the Most Frequently Asked Questions

ATM 

Located in the main hospital café and by the security desk on the first floor. 


Bed Rails/Call Light 

Your bed has special controls and rails that may be raised when you are resting, recovering from surgery, or taking medicine. Ask your nurse how to use your bed, television, phone, and other devices in your patient room. 


Your room also has a call light. Keep it close to your bed to call staff when needed. Do not try to get out of bed on your own. Use the call light and wait for help. 


Case Management

Case managers and social workers can help you with any financial, social, or emotional issues related to your illness or hospitalization. Your case manager also helps you and your family create a safe discharge plan. Call 661-949-5025 to reach a case manager, or ask your nurse to connect you with Case Management. 


Deliveries 

Mail, packages, or other deliveries will be delivered to your room by a volunteer. Anything delivered after you are discharged will be sent to your home. Please tell those writing to you to use your full name so we can ensure delivery. Flowers will be delivered to you as soon as they arrive, unless you are in a critical care unit or have a restriction due to a health-related condition. In that case, they will be sent home with a friend or loved one, or held until you transfer to a different floor. Please note, if you opt out of the hospital directory, deliveries will be returned to sender.


You may request newspapers and magazines by calling the Volunteer department at 661-949-5105.


Dining 

Visitor Dining

We invite all visitors to dine in our Café on J or 15th Street Café. Most major credit cards are accepted.


  • Café on J

Location: main hospital

Hours:

  • Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
  • Lunch: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Dinner: 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  • 15th Street Café

Location: Women and Infant Pavilion

Hours:

  • Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
  • Lunch: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.


Patient Meals

Patient meals are delivered directly to patient rooms. Patients are not permitted to dine in either café after admission or if they have been checked in to the emergency department and are waiting to be seen.


Outside food may be brought into the hospital as long as it conforms to your ordered diet. Check with your care team for any restrictions.


Drug- and Smoke-Free Campus 

Antelope Valley Medical Center does not permit any type of smoking, vaping, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, or marijuana use inside or outside hospital buildings, in parking lots, or on the hospital grounds. Our no-smoking policy applies to all patients, visitors, medical staff members, vendors, and employees.


Environmental/Housekeeping Services 

Our professional housekeeping staff will clean your room daily. If your room needs attention between regular housekeeping visits, please let your nurse know.


Fire Safety

We conduct fire drills from time to time. If you hear an alarm, stay where you are. In an actual emergency, hospital staff will tell you what to do.


Frequent Rounding

Nurses and medical professionals will round on patients regularly. For immediate help or if you need to use the bathroom, use your call light to call your nurse. 


Gift Shops 

Our gift shops carry cards, magazines, snacks, beverages, toiletries, floral arrangements, and other gifts. Both stores accept credit card phone orders for gifts and flowers, which can be delivered directly to a patient’s room upon request. 


Main Hospital Gift Shop

Location: first floor near the main entrance


Hours:


  • Weekdays: 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  • Weekends: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. *


The Women and Infant Pavilion Gift Shop 

Location: right inside the entrance 


Hours:


  • Weekdays: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
  • Weekends: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. * 


* Our gift shops are staffed by volunteers. Hours may vary.


Proceeds are donated back to the hospital. Cash and credit cards are accepted.


Internet Access 

We offer free wireless internet access: physician_guest. Enter your name and email address, and you will have 24-hour internet access. 


Language Services 

Medically qualified interpreter services are provided for free to patients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have limited English proficiency. Our language services program includes video remote interpretation, dual-handset phones, and face-to-face interpreters, as needed. To request interpreter services, ask a member of your care team.


Lost and Found

Please contact our Security team at 661-726-6250.


Medicines

All medicines you take in the hospital need to be prescribed, filled, and given to you by hospital staff. Tell your care team about any medicines you regularly take. If you brought any prescription or over-the-counter medicines to the hospital, please have a loved one take them home for you. If you still need them, hospital staff will give them to you.


Patient Experience 

During your stay, if you feel that your needs are not being met, please first communicate with your nurse or care team. If your nurse is unable to assist you, ask to speak with the unit manager/director. (On nights and weekends, ask for the house supervisor.) For unresolved concerns, please contact the Patient Experience department by phone at 661-949-5650 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by email at PatientFeedback@avmc.org.


Personal Belongings and Valuables 

We encourage you to give any valuables, such as jewelry, credit cards, cash, cell phones, or electronics, to a trusted relative or friend for safe keeping during your stay. If you are not able to send your belongings home with someone else, tell your nurse about the personal items you’d like documented in your chart and secured once you have been admitted.


Public Restrooms

For everyone’s health and safety, we ask visitors not to use patient restrooms. Public restrooms are located throughout the hospital. Ask hospital staff to direct you to the nearest one.


Rapid Response Team 

Our Rapid Response Team brings immediate support and begins prompt treatment at a patient’s bedside when needed. If you notice a change in your loved one’s condition, please notify the charge nurse as soon as possible.


Spiritual Care

Our volunteer chaplains provide spiritual care for patients, their families, and hospital employees of all faiths Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The on-call chaplain is available nights and weekends for emergencies. Please ask staff to arrange a chaplain visit. Your own minister, priest, rabbi, or spiritual advisor is welcome to visit in line with the hospital’s visitation policy. 


Tell your nurse if you would like a hospital volunteer chaplain to visit, or call the chaplains’ office at 661-949-5005.


Chapel 

A nondenominational chapel, located on the first floor of the main hospital, is open 24/7 for quiet reflection. 


Telephone 

Family and friends can reach you by calling the hospital at 661-949-5000. The caller should press 0 then ask for you by name.


Local and Long-Distance Calls 

To make a local call, dial 9 + 1, the area code, and then the number. To make a toll-free call, dial 9 + 1, then the toll-free number. 


All other calls will be charged to you. To have your call charged to your home telephone or credit card, or to make a collect call, dial 8 + 0 + area code + number, or dial 8 + 00 and wait for the outside operator. To call a hospital department, dial the four-digit extension. 


Television 

Closed captioning is available for the hearing impaired. See Channel Listings


Vending Machines

Located in the main hospital:


  • near Café on J (1st floor)
  • emergency department outside walk-in entrance
  • Women and Infant Pavilion front lobby


Weapons-Free Campus

To ensure the safety and security of our patients, visitors, and employees, weapons are not permitted on campus, with the exception of law enforcement.

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