Visitor Information
Visiting General Medical/Surgical Floors
Visiting hours for the general medical and surgical floors are 8:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Special visiting hours apply to specific units, including Heart and Vascular Intensive Care, Surgical Intensive Care, Maternity, Behavioral Health Unit, Neuroscience Intensive Care, Burn Unit, Medical Intensive Care, Emergency Department, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care. Please have your guests ask at the Information Desk or the nurses’ station for the visiting hours of your unit.
The Main entrance, Apple Street Walkway entrance, and Berry Women's Center lobby are locked from 10:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. daily; the Apple Street lobby is locked from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. If you need to visit the hospital during those hours, please inform your patient’s nurse so special arrangements can be made.
Visiting Guidelines
Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) believes that family and friends have important roles in a patient’s plan of care. Our visiting guidelines are designed to help with safety, enable consistent care of patients, and promote a sense of security among patients, family, and staff. These guidelines recognize that, because family situations differ, other variables may need to be considered in individual situations.
Please ask your guests to stop at the Main Entrance Information Desk, Apple Street Information Desk, or Berry Women's Center Information Desk before coming to your room. For the comfort of all patients, we ask that no more than two visitors see a patient at one time.
For your child’s health and the comfort of our patients, we request that young children be cared for at home. Please have your younger children accompanied by an adult in the hospital lobby. Visits by children under the age of 13 should be approved by your nurse.
Visitors are expected to be considerate and respectful of the rights of patients and staff and to respect the privacy and confidentiality of all patients. This includes appropriate dress (shirt and shoes) for all visitors.
Family lounges or waiting areas are available for the comfort of families and visitors. Cell phones may be used in certain areas of the hospital in conjunction with MVH’s cell phone policy.
General Guidelines
General guidelines for visitors are as follows:
- MVH is a tobacco-free environment. Use of tobacco products is prohibited within the hospital and the entire MVH campus.
- People with fever, cold sores, cough, nasal drainage, colds, diarrhea, or any contagious disease should not visit patients.
- Visitors should maintain a quiet environment and avoid unnecessary noise to optimize patient rest.
- Due to confidentiality, visitors may be asked to leave the room during tests or treatments or when a doctor or nurse must consult with a patient.
- For safety reasons, visitation may be limited when the patient is in isolation precautions. In the event of extenuating circumstances, a nurse will consult with the Infection Control Practitioner.
- The Infection Control Practitioner may restrict visitors and visiting hour in the presence of a community-wide infectious disease. This information will be communicated to families and visitors.
- Any child who has had recent exposure to communicable diseases (e.g., chicken pox, influenza, measles, mumps, tuberculosis) should not be brought to the hospital to visit.
Cell Phone Use
Cellular phones and other cellular-enabled wireless devices may be used except within three feet of any patient. Two-way radio voice and data devices (walkie-talkies) must be powered off in all patient areas because they are more likely to interfere with medical equipment.
Overnight Guests
Overnight stays by visitors in waiting rooms or patient rooms are limited to special situations and approved by the patient’s nurse or the Administrative Officer. An overnight visitor badge with the patient’s room number will be issued to the visitor on the nursing unit and must be visibly worn at all times
Calling a Patient
Each patient telephone has its own direct-dial number. Patients are encouraged to give their number to family and friends so they may reach them directly without going through the hospital switchboard. Incoming calls to patient rooms are not accepted before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m.
If you do not have a patient’s direct-dial number, call the patient information number at (937) 208-2048 or (800) 544-0630. You will be provided with the patient’s direct number and/or connected to the patient’s room.
Exceptions
There may be times during a patient’s stay at MVH when the patient, his or her physician, or the nursing staff feels the patient should not be disturbed by telephone calls. In these cases, the “DO NOT DISTURB” button on the patient’s telephone will divert incoming calls to an automatic answering system.
In other cases, a patient may decide at the time of admission not to accept phone calls for privacy reasons. In this case, calls for that patient will not be put through from the switchboard.
Sending Mail or Flowers
Mail and flowers are delivered to patient rooms by hospital volunteers. Due to patient privacy and confidentiality laws, no deliveries will be made to patients who have chosen not to be listed in the hospital’s hospital directory. Deliveries will not be forwarded to patients who have been discharged.
Flowers are not permitted in the following areas: Burn Unit, Heart and Vascular Intensive Care, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, Medical Intensive Care, Surgical Intensive Care, Neuroscience Intensive Care, and Neonatal Intensive Care.
Mail and flowers are delivered Monday through Friday. The mailroom is closed on weekends.
Hospital Address
The address for sending mail or flowers is Miami Valley Hospital, One Wyoming Street, Dayton, Ohio 45409-2793. If you send mail while you are a patient, please use your home address as your return address. Mail received up to one month after a patient’s dismissal will be forwarded.
On-site Gift Shops
The Miami Valley Gift Shop, located in the main lobby on the first floor of MVH, stocks fresh and silk flowers and a selection of other gifts to express get-well wishes. For your convenience, gifts may be ordered by phone at 937-208-2705. Your gift will be hand-delivered by hospital volunteers.
The Berry Market is located in the rotunda of the Berry Women's Center. The gift shop is geared toward new mothers and babies, but stocks a wide selection of gift items as well. Items may be ordered by calling 937-208-2765 and are hand-delivered by hospital volunteers.
Areas with Alternate Visiting Hours and Regulations
The hours listed may be altered based on individual patient and family needs at the discretion of the patient’s nurse.
Emergency Trauma Center
Visitors are permitted in the treatment rooms to visit patients at bedside. Visitation will be limited to two individuals per patient. The information staff or security officer at the entrance to the treatment area will provide clip-on badges identifying the bed number of the patient. Visitors must wear these badges at all times while in the treatment area.
All visitors will be screened through a metal detector prior to entering the Emergency and Trauma Center treatment area.
During times that family or friends are not physically with the patient at bedside, the visitors will be asked to wait in the Emergency Trauma Center Waiting Room.
Adult Intensive Care Units
Hours of Operation: General visiting hours for ICU are 11am-8pm. This includes the Heart and Vascular Intensive Care (HVIC), Medical Intensive Care, Neurosurgical Intensive Care and the Burn Center. Flexible visitation is available for immediate family members. Patients may have three visitors at a time. Please see the ICU staff for more detailed information. Visits by children under 13 years of age must be approved by the nursing staff ahead of time.
Telephone: Call (937) 208-9450 to speak to the patient care representative in the ICU Waiting Area.
Behavioral Health Unit
Visitation hours are Monday through Friday, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.., and Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Patients may have two visitors at a time.
Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit
Visitors under 13 are not permitted due to the risk of communicable disease.
Maternity (Berry Women's Center)
Visitation is permitted 24 hours a day. Family-centered visitation is encouraged in all phases of care. Visitors must obtain a visitor badge from the Berry Women's Center Information Desk and display the badge at all times. Visitors without a badge should be directed to the Information Desk. The patient's children may visit during general visiting hours. All other children must wait in designated waiting areas on each unit and must be attended by an adult. The patient may have four visitors at a time in addition to the support person.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Open visitation is permitted 24 hours a day. However, during physician rounds, visitation is restricted for patient confidentiality reasons. The time of physician rounds is posted at the entrance of the unit. Friends and relatives over age 14 may visit when accompanied by the parent. Visits should be limited to 10 to 15 minutes each hour. No more than four visitors may be at bedside at anytime except under special circumstances as discussed with the primary nurse.
Hand washing is necessary upon entry to the nursery and prior to contact with your baby. Please understand that there may be times and situations when visitation is limited for the overall safety of your child and the other infants. Grandparents may visit unaccompanied by the parent or support person.
Visitors must obtain a visitor badge from the Berry Women's Center Information Desk and display the badge at all times. Visitors without a badge should be directed to the Information Desk before being permitted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.