• After your procedure is scheduled, you will be contacted by a text message or a telephone call to your home regarding the online program, Simple Admit, where you can enter your medical and surgical history at your convenience. If you have access to computer, you can access Simple Admit by going to the Patient Portal located on the home page of the Waterfront Surgery Center’s website. Click on “Complete Medical History” and follow the instructions. If you do not have a computer, a nurse will contact you by telephone to review your information.
• A member of the Registration Staff will contact you by telephone to complete the pre-registration process. This will help expedite your registration the day of your procedure.
• The Waterfront Surgery Center staff realizes that time is a precious commodity for you, your family and your surgeon. We are constantly evaluating our performance and processes to ensure that all aspects of your visit are handled in an efficient manner.
• The staff of the Waterfront Surgery Center understands that your family and friends may experience anxiety while waiting for you during your procedure. The staff will make every effort to keep your family and friends informed of your progress and when they will be able to re-join you after the procedure.

For your own safety and protection, you are required to have a responsible adult drive you home and to remain with you for 24 hours if you are to receive sedation, a nerve block or general anesthesia. You are not permitted to take a cab home alone.
 Please call the Waterfront Surgery Center the day before your procedure between 11:00 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. at (412) 224-4370 to receive your arrival time.
 Please refrain from tobacco and alcohol products for 24 hours prior to your procedure.
 If you are to receive sedation, a nerve block or general anesthesia, you are not to have any solid food after 12 midnight the night before your procedure. When you call in for your arrival time, the nurse will give you additional instructions.
 Please remember to bring your insurance cards. Our staff will need to make a copy of the card(s) and verify your insurance information when you check-in on the day of your procedure.
Do not wear make-up, jewelry, nail polish or contact lenses. Do not bring money or valuables with you. The Waterfront Surgery Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items.
 Wear loose casual clothing for your comfort.
 You may wear your dentures, partials and hearing aids. However, anesthesia may request that you remove your dentures or partial plate prior to the procedure.
 If you wear glasses, please bring a case for them.
 Please notify your physician if there is a possibility that you may be pregnant. Anesthetic agents and medications may be harmful to your developing baby.
 Please discuss all current medications with the pre-operative nurse during the assessment telephone call.

DIABETIC PATIENTS:

• DO NOT take your diabetic medications (including: insulin and oral diabetic medications).
• Please check your blood sugar at home prior to coming to the surgery center and bring the results with you.
• If you are an insulin dependent diabetic, please bring your insulin with you.

COLONOSCOPY PATIENTS:

• Please closely follow the preparation instructions given by your physician.
• If you have any problems with the prep, please contact your physician.
• Plan to arrive promptly at the scheduled time. Your prompt arrival will allow adequate time for all the necessary admission procedures and help us keep the schedule moving smoothly for other patients, families and physicians.
• Do not wear make-up, jewelry, nail polish or contact lenses. Do not bring money or valuables with you. The Waterfront Surgery Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items.
• For your own safety and protection, you are required to have a responsible adult drive you home and to remain with you for 24 hours if you are to receive sedation, a nerve block or general anesthesia. You are not permitted to take a cab home alone. No one is permitted to take public transportation home.
• We look forward to your visit. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your experience with us more comfortable.

Our registration staff will check you in when you arrive at the Waterfront Surgery Center. This process should be brief since most of your information was obtained prior to your arrival. This final check allows the staff to verify all of your key information, so that we may better serve you.

After you are registered, you will wait in the lobby until the pre-operative nurse comes to escort you to the pre-operative area where you will prepare for your procedure.

During the initial pre-operative phase, the person accompanying you will wait in the lobby until you are ready.

A nurse will conduct a pre-operative assessment that will include taking your vital signs. The nurse may also start an IV, if it is required for your procedure.

The anesthesiologist will speak with you in the pre-operative area prior to your procedure. The anesthesia provider will explain the procedure you will be having and review all the pre-operative information that the nurses have collected.

During your stay in the pre-operative area, several people will confirm the procedure that you are having done, ask your name and birth date and verify allergies. This is done to make certain that the correct procedure is being performed on the correct patient and to make certain no medications to which you are sensitive/allergic are administered.

After the nurse has completed the admission process, your family member or friend may come to sit with you while you are in the pre-operative area.

You will be escorted from the pre-operative area to the operating room or procedure room, where the procedure will be performed.

Family and/or friends will wait in the waiting area while the procedure is being performed. The Waterfront Surgery Center requires family members and/or friends to remain at the surgery center during the procedure. If for any reason they must leave the center, even to go to the car, please have them notify the registration clerk. If they are leaving for any period of time, they are to leave a phone number so that we may reach them immediately, if necessary.

For their convenience, Starbucks coffee is provided in the waiting area for your family and/or friends.

What you should EXPECT AFTER your procedure has been performed:

Following the procedure, you will be transferred directly to the Recovery Area.

Once you arrive into the Recovery Area, you will be admitted and assessed by our nursing staff.

Time spent in the Recovery Area depends on a number of factors including:

• Type of anesthesia used
• Reaction to the anesthetic
• The amount of pain (if any) you experience
• Your recovery from the procedure

The physician will speak to the family and/or friends following the procedure. Some physicians will see the family and/or friends in the consultation area while others will speak to the patient and accompanying family and/or friends once the patient is stable and transferred to a lounge chair in the Recovery Area.

The family member and/or friends should not be alarmed if they do not see the patient as soon as the physician speaks with them. Some patients wake up faster than others and they will not be permitted to be with you until you are awake and stable enough to be transferred from the Recovery Area bed to a lounge chair.

Prior to your discharge from the surgery center, the Recovery Area nurse will review with you and your family member any post-operative instructions regarding diet, rest, medication, etc. You will be given a copy of the instructions to take with you. Because you may still be feeling the effects of the sedation/anesthetic agents and may experience short-term forgetfulness, we require a responsible adult to be present while the nurse gives your discharge instructions. We also require that both of you sign the discharge instructions.

Patients may still be tired when discharged and need assistance for the first 24 hours at home.

In the event of medical need, you may require transfer/admission to the hospital.

Your post-operative instructions are provided to facilitate your recovery process. We encourage you to follow these instructions as they were given to you.

For your own safety, do not drink alcoholic beverages for 24 hours after receiving sedation or anesthetic agents and while taking oral pain medications.

Because it is normal to feel drowsy after receiving sedation or anesthetic agents, you are not to drive, operate equipment, sign important documents or make important decisions for 24 hours.

The next day, the Recovery Area staff will conduct a post-operative phone call to check that you are doing well. If you have any questions or concerns, please let our staff member know.

In case of an emergency, call your physician or go to the nearest emergency room.

We, at the Waterfront Surgery Center, hope that your brief stay with us is as pleasant as possible.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED ABOVE IS GENERAL IN NATURE. IT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. PLEASE BE SURE TO DISCUSS YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY AND ANY CONCERNS WITH A QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT

(412) 325-2174.