patient in wheelchair with visitor

Patients and Visitors

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Great care begins with our outstanding staff. Everyone involved in your care is here to serve your needs. Your involvement -- asking questions, keeping track of your medications, and learning about patient and visitor safety - is a partnership we value highly.

Visitation Guidelines - updated 3/22/21

In alignment with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), St. Lawrence Health System has taken precautions to protect and maintain the health and safety of patients and staff during the COVID-19 outbreak to prevent the introduction of this infection into the hospitals. Visitation within hospitals has been modified, given the risk of COVID-19 in the healthcare setting. Healthcare providers should thoroughly discuss the potential risks and benefits of a visitor’s and support person’s presence at the bedside with the patient, visitor, and support person, if possible.

Visitor: An individual who is a guest of the patient. Family members are considered to be visitors as well, when not fulfilling the role of a support person.
Support Person: An individual who is in a support role for a patient or who is legally responsible for making health care decisions on behalf of a patient. This may include family members, friends, or another individual who is there to support the patient.

Visitor and Support Persons Guidelines

Hospitals across the System are permitting the following exceptions within its emergency department, medical/surgical, maternity, observation, and critical care units, as long as visitors and support persons are COVID-19 symptom free, and adhere to current safety guidelines and specific visiting hours (determined by individual hospitals):

For pediatric, critical care, and inpatients not on COVID-19 precautions, one visitor may be present at a time (some exceptions apply).

For patients in imminent end-of-life situations, one family member, clergy, and/or legal representative may be a support person. The patient and/or family/caregiver may designate up to two support people, and two support people may be present at a time.

For patients for whom a support person has been determined to be essential to the care of the patient (including patients with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, and patients with cognitive impairments), two support people may be designated, and one support person may be present at a time.

Labor and Delivery Units are allowing a patient to designate one support person to be present during labor, delivery, and the remaining duration of their stay based on clinical guidance and as medically appropriate. After delivery, one visitor at a time is permitted in the patient’s room.

Emergency Department patients may have one support person at a time for their entire Emergency stay. The patient or their legal representative will determine the identified essential support person. One support person will be able to accompany a patient in the Emergency Department. If the patient is admitted to the hospital from the Emergency Department, the support person is thereafter considered a “visitor” and must immediately adhere to current visitor restrictions.

All visitors and support persons should be greater than 18 years of age, except in very rare cases. Visitors and support persons will be screened for symptoms, asked to perform meticulous hand hygiene, wear a face mask or other required Personal Protective Equipment, and stay within close proximity of the patient’s room. Visitors and support persons who fail to comply with guidelines will be asked to leave the facility.

Hours of visitation are determined by each facility and are subject to change:

Canton-Potsdam Hospital
General visitation 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Critical Care visitation 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Support Persons are as described above.

Gouverneur Hospital
General visitation 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Support Persons are as described above.

Massena Hospital
General visitation 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Support Persons are as described above.

Browse our most common services listed below or use one of the links to the right.

Cafeteria/Food Service

If your loved one is hospitalized, he/she will be provided with meals or snacks appropriate to his/her healing plan; always ask your loved one's nurse about bringing food items from home or a restaurant.

Canton-Potsdam Hospital
The Hospital Café is located on street-level
Café hours are daily from 7:00 AM - 5:45 PM

Gouverneur Hospital
The Hospital Café is located on the lower-level
Staffed Café hours are daily from 6:00 AM -  7:30 PM

Massena Hospital
The Hospital Cafeteria is located on the 2nd floor
The Cafeteria is open daily from 6:15 AM - 3:30 PM, à la carte 

Hospital Gift Shop

Volunteers manage the hospitals' Gift Shop, which stock jewelry, stuffed animals, toys, coffee travel mugs, handbags, scarves, and other items sure to help you convey a caring message to loved ones. 

Massena Hospital Gift Shop
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Every-other Tuesday, 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Medical Records

If you have an established Patient Portal, you can review your records for Canton-Potsdam, Gouverneur, and Massena hospitals at any time.

If you do not have a Patient Portal and need your medical records, please call the appropriate hospital's Medical Records office:
Canton-Potsdam Hospital: (315) 261-5274
Gouverneur Hospital: (315) 261-5709
Massena Hospital: (315) 769-4386

Needle/Sharps Disposal

We offer a service for safe disposal of used needles and sharps. Use a specially-designed sharps container available from most pharmacies, or place your used sharps in an empty detergent or bleach bottle, seal the bottle, and label it clearly as "used sharps."

Please do not leave sharps bottles unattended at any time.

Canton-Potsdam Hospital
Bring containers to 50 Leroy Street and notify the switchboard staff that you have used sharps for disposal. 

Gouverneur Hospital
Bring containers to 77 West Barney Street and notify the laboratory staff that you have used sharps for disposal. 

Massena Hospital
Bring containers to 1 Hospital Drive and notify the laboratory staff that you have used sharps for disposal. 

Parking

Our employees make every effort to leave the closest parking spaces open for patients and visitors, and spaces for people with disabilities are clearly marked. Designated space for emergency visits and for clergy is available adjacent to the emergency room of the main campus.

Patient Consent Forms

The Official OCA 960 (Office of Court Administration) Authorization for Release form is an authorization for release of Health Information pursuant to the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
OCA 960 Form

Patient Relations

Compliments and words of thanks are welcome and are relayed to staff members and supervisors. We love to hear the good, and we need to hear the not-so-good.

If something about your care is of concern to you, allow our Director of Patient Experience to address your concern first. We are committed to continuous improvement and your feedback assists us in serving you better. If you have a concern about your care or your visit to us, please contact:

CPH's Director of Patient Experience at (315) 261-5050
GH's Director of Patient Experience at (315) 535-9362
MH's Department of Patient Concerns at (315) 842-3025

Tobacco Use

ALL OUR CAMPUSES ARE PROUDLY SMOKE-FREE.

New York State law prohibits smoking on or within 15 feet of the property line of a medical facility, or on or within 100 feet of a school or educational facility.

If you use tobacco products and are admitted as an inpatient, please speak to your nurse. Help with quitting smoking is available from all of our primary care providers and Pulmonology specialists.

Because some of our Potsdam facilities are adjacent to property designated as educational, smoking is not permitted on the sidewalks, parking lots, or across the street from our Potsdam campus.