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Before Your Stay

What You Need to Bring to Admitting/Outpatient Registration

Your doctor will notify Baptist Health of your admission. If necessary, a representative from the pre-admitting office may contact you to compile information that will expedite your admission.

Patient Medical Information Release Form

Please arrive at the Registration Office at the time specified by your doctor. The staff will review the admitting information with you and make any necessary corrections. You also will be asked to sign medical authorization, insurance and other consent forms. Minors require parental or legal guardian permission for admission.

  • To ensure accurate billing information, please bring your

    • Social Security number;

    • Current insurance identification card;

    • Medicare card, if applicable;

    • Completed claim form (if required by your employer);

    • Any physician orders, medical records, X-rays or other paperwork provided by your physician; and

    • Completed Living Will or Durable Power of Attorney, if available.

  • ADA/Special Services
    Whenever possible, we provide assistance for those needing special services. Patients who have difficulty reading, speaking English, or who need other assistance will be accommodated to the best of our ability. TDD/TTY telecommunications devices for the deaf are available upon request. Please let the admitting office know if you need special accommodations by calling 625-3122.

  • Identification Wrist Bands
    You will be given an identification band during admission. Please wear it for the duration of your stay. If you lose your identification band, or discover an inaccuracy, tell the nurse and you will receive a new band.

  • Emergency Admissions
    Patients who are critically ill or who are admitted through the Emergency Department will receive immediate attention. Necessary information for record keeping and billing will be obtained from the patient or family members. If information is unattainable during initial treatment, the Admitting Office will contact the patient or family and obtain complete information later.

  • Things to Bring for Your Stay

    • Nightgown/pajamas.

    • Robe.

    • Slippers or socks.

    • Toiletries such as hairbrush or comb, shampoo, soap, facial tissue, toothbrush and toothpaste.

    • Eyeglasses, dentures or hearing aid.

    • If you regularly take medication, please provide a list of these medications, their dosages and times taken or bring these medications in a bag for your doctors and nurses to review. For your safety, please do not take your personal medications while in the hospital. Send them home with a family member after you have shown them to your nurse. The hospital's pharmacy will provide any medication your doctor orders.

    • If you currently use a special wheelchair, walker, crutches, cane or other device, please bring it for use during your hospital stay.

    • Reading materials or stationery.

    • The names and telephone numbers of two people to contact in case of emergency.

  • Things to Leave at Home

    • It is best not to bring valuables to the medical center. If necessary, request that your valuables be placed in the hospital safe.

    • If you wear dentures, ask your nurse to provide a special container for their safekeeping. Keep dentures and eyeglasses in a safe place; they should not be wrapped in tissue or placed on your meal tray.

    • Baptist Health assumes no responsibility for personal belongs.

Anesthesia: What to Expect

The video below provides general information about anesthesia and what you can expect before, during and after your procedure. Your surgeon and care team will provide instructions specific to your procedure. 

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Hello, my name is Tracy Spafford. I'm a certified registered nurse anesthetist here at Baptist Health Richmond. I'm here to discuss with you today what to expect on the day of your procedure.

First, you will come into our registration offices and you will register and get your name band. We will then head to our same day surgery. And in this location, you will meet your preoperative nurse. That nurse will be responsible for placing your IV, getting you prepared for surgery, and we will also answer any questions you have pertaining to your procedure and anesthetic. Once you have spoken to your physician, your anesthesia team, we will then take you back to the operating room where we will complete the procedure. Our main goal is to keep you as relaxed as possible with the anesthetic we have chosen for your procedure.

Two common procedures we do here at Baptist Health Richmond are cataract surgery and colonoscopies.

Both of these procedures require sedation for surgery. For a colonoscopy, we provide what is called monitored anesthesia care or MAC anesthesia.

During this type of anesthetic, you will be able to maintain your airway, ventilation, but we will also be able to keep you comfortable while using the scope to evaluate your GI tract.

During a cataract surgery, we use what is called conscious sedation. During this type of procedure, we give you medication to help you relax. You may drift off to sleep, but could easily wake up. We use this type of anesthetic in conjunction with some numbing medication for your eye to keep you comfortable throughout your cataract surgery. The most common type of anesthesia that we utilize our pre admission testing area for is general anesthesia.

In this location, we have patients come see our nurses prior to the procedure, sometimes two to three days, so that we can evaluate you for surgery.

We also use this location for patients who maybe have a complicated medical history or have questions or concerns related to their anesthetic. At times, your surgeon may discuss the need for a preoperative block prior to your procedure. These are a couple things you can expect with a pain block. These blocks can last up to seventy two hours depending on what type of local anesthetic we have used. First, we will bring you to a holding area where we will give you some sedation to help you relax. We like to maintain verbal contact with you to ensure that we are in the proper location for medication injection.

By using an ultrasound, we will identify a nerve that is the nerve that innervates the location that we will be doing your procedure.

By numbing this area, we can keep you comfortable before, during, and after the procedure. There are some risks involved in nerve blocks, but they have decreased proportionally as we have used the ultrasound and nerve stimulators to help identify the appropriate nerves. Some risks include tenderness, bruising, infection, failed block, or nerve damage. These are all things you will have time to discuss with your anesthesia provider prior to your nerve block.

Here are a few things you can expect after your procedure. If you have received sedation or monitored anesthesia care, you will go to our phase two. In this location, we will make sure that your nausea and pain are controlled and that you are able to get up out of bed and safely home.

If you have received a general anesthetic, you will first start in our post anesthesia recovery unit or PACU. We will watch you for approximately one hour to ensure your vital signs are stable, your nausea and vomiting are controlled, your wound is free of any bleeding or discomfort, and that you can safely move to our phase two unit. With any type of anesthetic, our postoperative nurses will review any discharge instructions with you prior to discharge. Some of the most common side effects of anesthesia are nausea and vomiting, sore throat and hoarseness, surgical site pain, shivering or feeling cold.

The further you get away from your surgical procedure, these side effects will continue to subside.