At Lincoln Medical Center, Lincoln County's only acute-care hospital, our patients are provided with expert healthcare by physicians who possess specialized medical training and experience and a nursing staff dedicated to the patients' individual health concerns. The 101-bed hospital, located in the heart of Lincolnton, NC, is able to provide for an abundance of healthcare needs, including, but not limited to, nuclear medicine, CT scans, MRI and vascular ultrasound, outpatient surgical suites and a renovated surgical unit, large labor and delivery suites, a monitored telemetry unit, and a critical care unit.

Admission
To help our patients' admission progress quickly and easily, patients are asked to register at the Admitting Office, located just inside the main entrance on the first floor of the hospital. The Admitting Office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

On weekends 3:30 p.m. and during the week after 7:00 p.m., patients may complete the admissions process in the Emergency Department, located in the back entrance on the second floor of the hospital.

Insurance Identification cards, including Medicare and Medicaid, and photo identification must be presented upon admission to Lincoln Medical Center. Any questions regarding health services and financial arrangements will be answered during admission to Lincoln Medical Center.

At the time of admission, patients will be required to sign forms consenting to treatment, accepting financial responsibility, and assigning health insurance benefits. Minors (under the age of 18), must have a parent or legal guardian present and able to sign admission forms in order to be admitted to Lincoln Medical Center. Lincoln Medical Center adheres to all HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) regulations regarding patient privacy and confidentiality. All health information is kept in strict confidence and only available to the patient.

Visiting Hours
Visits from family and friends contribute to the well being of our patients. However, we must ensure that our patients also have quiet hours for rest and recovery. Please note general visiting hours:

General:
9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

ICU/CCU:
9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

• CCU Visiting Hours are 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.* daily. (*Exception: No visitors from 6:30-7:30 p.m. This hour allows time for nurse reporting.)
• ICU/CCU allows only 2 visitors per patient at a time
• Visitors are asked to wait in the waiting area during certain procedures and/or emergencies
• No visitors under the age of 12 are permitted
• Visitors must wash their hands before and after visiting a patient in ICU/CCU

Maternity:
7 a.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Fathers are able to visit the New Beginnings unit at Lincoln Medical Center at anytime. New Beginnings must limit labor support during the delivery process to three people to ensure all laboring patients are comfortable and undisturbed during the labor process. Lincoln Medical Center discourages visitation during this time due to our desire to provide a safe and secure environment for all laboring patients. Visitation hours for post partum patients are 7:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. In order to provide a safe, secure environment to our new mothers and their newborns, The New Beginnings unit will be closed and locked after 8:30 p.m. each evening. Lincoln Medical Center emphasizes infection control and patient and infant security.

Patient Education
Patient education is available at Lincoln Medical Center for various illnesses and chronic diseases. An abundance of health education classes and forums take place at Lincoln Medical Center. Patients and families are provided with specific information and skills required to meet patients' on-going healthcare needs. Such instruction includes, but is not limited to:

1. the safe and effective use of medication
2. the safe and effective use of medical equipment (specific education provided by departments providing equipment)
3. potential drug and food interaction
4. nutritional interventions and modifications
5. diabetes education
6. smoking cessation education
7. CPR education
8. discharge teaching on signs and symptoms of the disease process

Lincoln Medical Center's Medical Library is open to the public 24 hours a day. Persons may research health information through textbooks, journals, periodicals, videos, etc. This information can be accessed individually or with the assistance of Lincoln Medical Center's Educational Services staff. Every Tuesday, a volunteer librarian is available for public assistance. All items are available for checkout and access to the Internet is provided within the Medical Library. Call Educational Services at 704-732-5542 to schedule an appointment for assistance at Lincoln Medical Center's Medical Library.

Hospital Chaplains
At Lincoln Medical Center, we realize that health issues reach far beyond the physical aspect of the individual. As a part of our dedication to the individual's overall health, both physical and spiritual, Lincoln Medical Center provides patients and their families with a chapel room, which is open 24 hours a day and located on the second floor of the hospital. In addition, volunteer chaplains from local churches are available to patients on an on-call basis daily for the newly-admitted patient or any patient request. For more information, please call 704-732-5510.

Advance Care Planning
As an alert and competent adult, patients have the right to make major choices regarding healthcare treatments. Advanced Care Planning Forms are legal, written and signed documents, presented by the patient, which state what healthcare treatments are accepted or refused. These documents must be completed while the patient is healthy, competent and able to sign and understand these legal documents. In other words, it is best, when making important healthcare decisions, that this document be completed in advance of major health complications. Advance Care Planning documents become important in making healthcare wishes known to physicians, the nursing staff, and other clinicians associated with care. Several forms are available and recognized by all healthcare providers which allow you to instruct healthcare providers about treatment you may or may not want in certain healthcare situations. These Advanced Care documents include:

• Advance Care Planning
• Health Care Power of Attorney
• Advance Instructions for Mental Health Treatment

Telephones
Telephones are provided in all patient rooms except critical care areas. Patient rooms may be accessed directly by dialing 704-732-5 and _ _ _ (the patient's corresponding room number). Patients have the choice to block phone calls to their rooms. To make a local call from the patient rooms, dial "9" and then the telephone number including area code. Long distance calls cannot be made directly from a hospital telephone. All long distance calls must be charged to a home phone, billed to a third party, a telephone credit card, a telephone calling card, or made through a collect call. For the safety and convenience of our patients, a bedside nurse's call button allows contact with each nursing station. Hearing impaired patients may request special equipment for telephones.

Televisions
All patient rooms are equipped with televisions, provided at no charge. Hearing impaired patients may request a decoder for their television.

Mail and Newspapers
Mail will be delivered to patient rooms daily by a hospital employee or volunteer.

Notaries
Notaries are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Gratuities
Gifts are unnecessary and discouraged by Lincoln Medical Center. If you would like to thank an employee or staff member, please send a letter of appreciation to:

Pete Acker, President and CEO
Lincoln Medical Center
P.O. Box 677
Lincolnton, NC 28093

Valuables
Lincoln Medical Center cannot be responsible for any lost or stolen valuables. If at all possible, please refrain from bringing valuables to Lincoln Medical Center.

For more information about being a patient at Lincoln Medical Center, call 704-735-3071.