Patient and Visitor Information

Helpful guidelines for your care and comfort

Thank you for choosing Methodist Medical Center. It is important to us that we provide you with EXCELLENT Care. Your health and well-being are our primary concerns, and we hope your stay is as pleasant and comfortable as possible. This page provides the information our guests often request. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask your nurse, doctor or other hospital staff member. We wish you a successful, rapid recovery and lasting good health.

Accreditation

Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge is a not-for-profit regional medical center licensed for 283 beds. The medical center is governed by a volunteer board of directors and has the highest accreditation rating from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Our accreditation represents a tradition of excellence in healthcare and of dedication to quality care. Methodist is a member of Covenant Health, the region’s top performing healthcare network. Community-owned and headquartered in Knoxville, Covenant Health includes nine acute-care hospitals, numerous outpatient and physician clinic locations, and specialty services for behavioral health, oncology, rehabilitation, home care, and community wellness and outreach programs. With more than 10,000 employees and nearly 1,500 affiliated physicians system-wide, Covenant Health is recognized regionally and nationally for quality and patient satisfaction.

Advance Directives

We want to be sure we understand who you would like to make decisions on your behalf when you cannot. Advance directives are legal documents that describe your treatment preferences in end-of-life situations. These legal documents give voice to persons who are unable to speak for themselves. Unexpected end-of-life situations can happen at any age, so all adults should have advance directives in place. Having written instructions can help reduce confusion or disagreement. Anyone age 18 or older may prepare advance directives. You should give copies to your doctor, family and nurse or registration clerk.

Living will. This written, legal document spells out the types of medical treatments and life-sustaining measures you do and don’t want, such as mechanical breathing (respiration and ventilation), tube feeding or resuscitation. In some states, living wills may be called healthcare declarations or directives.

Medical Power of Attorney (POA). The medical POA is a legal document that designates an individual – referred to as your health care agent or proxy – to make medical decisions for you in the event that you’re unable to do so. A medical POA is sometimes called a durable power of attorney for healthcare. However, it is different from a power of attorney authorizing someone to make financial transactions for you.

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order. This is a request to not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. Advance directives do not have to include a DNR order, and you don’t have to have an advance directive to have a DNR order. Your doctor can put a DNR order in your medical chart.

Methodist Medical Center is here to provide you with information regarding your rights to make decisions concerning healthcare, including the right to accept or refuse medical or surgical treatment, even if that treatment is life sustaining. The Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare forms and brochure are available to you by contacting the Admissions Office at 865-835-4900; the Chaplain at 865-835-5233; or, after 5 p.m., you can reach the Nursing Supervisor from within the hospital by dialing 0.

ATM Location

ATM is located off the main lobby in the front seating area of the Secret City Café.

Billing and Customer Service

Our Patient Accounting Department is ready to help you with any questions or concerns you may have about your patient account. We appreciate the opportunity to share helpful information about our patient accounting process. Click here for more information.

Dining

The Secret City Café is located off the hospital’s Main Lobby and offers a variety of hot foods, sandwiches and salad bar options, as well as express “grab-and-go” options. The cafeteria is open at the following times:

Breakfast: 7 to 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday (closed on weekends)

Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Sunday

Dinner: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday

Late-Night: Midnight to 2 a.m. Monday through Sunday

Visitors are welcome to eat in the cafeteria. Carry-out is available.

Patient Room Service

Soon after your admission to the hospital, your physician will prescribe a specific diet to meet your needs. Use the menu in your room to order meals. To place your order, dial 865-835-4100. Your order will be verified for diet compliance and prepared according to your wishes. You may pre-order up to three meals in advance. Please order only the foods you plan to eat, so accurate calorie counts may be taken.

Guest meals are available for $5 per tray, with payment required upon delivery.

Vending

The hospital also has vending areas on the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors near the Patient Tower Elevators. Additional vending areas are available at the end of the Emergency Department corridor and in the front seating area of the Secret City Café.

Financial Assistance

Covenant Health is committed to providing quality health services in a caring environment. It is the expressed philosophy of Covenant Health and its member hospitals, including Methodist Medical Center, that no one should be denied necessary medical care because of the inability to pay. To learn more about our financial assistance options, click here.

Lodging Assistance

The Hospitality Houses of Methodist Medical Center provide temporary lodging for patients and families who travel to Oak Ridge for extended medical treatment. Our mission is to help relieve the financial burden associated with such housing, thereby enabling our guests to focus on physical and emotional healing.

The houses primarily serve patients of Thompson Cancer Survival Center at Methodist, Thompson Oncology Group and their caregivers. Other patients of Methodist Medical Center and their families may stay at the houses when space is available. In most cases, guests must live 30 or more miles from Oak Ridge and must be referred by staff at the cancer center, the medical center or a physician’s office.

For information and room availability, please call the Hospitality Houses at 865-835-4358 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Medical Records

Phone: 865-374-5269

Medical Records, or Health Information Management (HIM) as it is now known, is responsible for your complete medical record once you have been discharged from the hospital. Medical records are kept on site, either in their original form or in a digital format.

*Because of COVID-19, the Medical Records office may be closed to walk-in visits. Please call 865-374-5269 before visiting to see whether our office is open for walk-in visits. If you need a copy of your medical record, please call 865-374-5269. You can also chat live with a representative about your medical record request by selecting the chat feature in the lower right corner of our website.

Looking for a copy of your birth certificate?

For those persons born at Methodist Medical Center and seeking a copy of your birth certificate, please note that we do not keep copies of birth certificates on our premises. Original certificates are all sent to the state for filing. You can contact the Tennessee Vital Records department either by phone or mail (info below) and they will send you a copy. Certain fees may apply.

Tennessee Vital Records 421 5th Ave. North Central Services Bldg., 1st Floor Nashville, TN 37247. Phone: 615-741-1763

Parking

Parking is available on the surface lots surrounding the front entrance or in the parking garage. All parking on Methodist’s campus is free of charge.

Security Services

Please safeguard your valuables while you are in the hospital. The hospital cannot be held responsible for the loss of money or other valuables kept in your room.

Please do not bring valuables with you to the hospital. If possible, send them home with a family member. Eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, and dentures should be kept in protective containers when not in use. Please do not wrap in tissue, paper towels, or pieces of hospital linen.

Security is maintained 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for patients, visitors, and staff. You are encouraged to report crimes or suspicious activity to security as soon as possible. Methodist’s security office is located in our Emergency Department and can be reached by calling 865-835-4343, or dial “0” for the operator from within the hospital.

Telephones

Local calls: Dial 9, then dial the local phone number.
Long-distance calls: Dial 9, then 0 and the number. Long-distance calls cannot be charged to your room, but you may make collect calls or charge calls to a third number or credit card.
Incoming calls: People outside the medical center may call your room directly by dialing 865-835-1, then your room number. Incoming calls will not be directed to patient rooms between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., although patients may continue to call out during those hours.
Inside the medical center: Dial the appropriate 835-prefix number.
Click here for a list of frequently dialed numbers within the medical center.

Tobacco-free Campus

Methodist Medical Center is dedicated to providing a clean, safe environment for our patients, visitors and staff. To promote health and wellness, Methodist Medical Center is a tobacco-free environment, both inside buildings and on the grounds. Vaping and e-cigarettes are also prohibited.

Patients who use tobacco products will be offered a nicotine patch or another alternative if needed during their hospital stay.

Visitors and guests who choose to use tobacco, e-cigarettes or vaping products will be required to leave Methodist’s campus before using products.

Visitation

Please take note of our visitation and masking guidelines which have been put in place to better protect our patients, staff and you.

This includes restricted visitation for children. No minors under 16 are currently allowed in Methodist facilities unless under extraordinary circumstances.

COVID-19 ADVISORY: Visitation guidelines are subject to change due to COVID-19. Please refer to https://www.covenanthealth.com/current-visitation-policy/ for latest information and updates.

Visiting Hours

General – 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Maternity – Visiting hours for the Family Birthing Center are flexible and at the discretion of the mother.

Critical Care Units (Intensive Care, Coronary Care and Cardiovascular Surgical)

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

Only immediate family members may visit, although friends may substitute in the absence of family. Visitation is limited to two people for 30 minutes at a time.

Wireless Internet

For your convenience, high-speed wireless Internet access is available throughout Methodist Medical Center.

Your user device should automatically detect our Wi-Fi when the device scans for wireless networks. To use our Wi-Fi, connect to the “Covenantguest” network. The password is “covenant.”

Disclaimers:

Methodist Medical Center and Covenant Health will not be held responsible for any computer viruses obtained through the network.
Methodist Medical Center is not responsible for providing technical support associated with the network.