Surgical Unit

For  patients requiring hospital admission following a surgical procedure, the surgical unit provides comprehensive post-operative care. The unit is located on the 4^th floor, East Building and is supported by a highly skilled team of health care professionals.

Meet Your Health Care Team

Specializing in post-operative care our team  includes physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and pharmacists.  Unit clerks provide support to the health care team by answering call bells from patient rooms and by helping with the flow of information. Service assistants stationed on each unit, transport patients from the surgical unit to other areas of the hospital and perform housekeeping duties.In addition to the on-unit team, a Hospital Chaplain or Pastoral Volunteers are also available to support your spiritual and emotional needs upon request.

Post Operative Care

Southlake Regional Health Centre strives to provide care that is tailored to the needs of each patient. Some patients experience common discomforts postoperatively or have complex care needs. Your health care team will work with you to develop a treatment plan. Your care may include any combination of the following:

Pain Control

Post-operative pain is managed by various methods. Your physician will select the method that works best for you based on your condition and surgical procedure. Nursing staff will provide you with education on the method that has been selected for you.

Dietary

Southlake Regional Health Centre is committed to providing patients with healthy and appetizing meals, as nutrition is essential to your post-operative recovery. Nursing staff will assess your dietary requirements and will include a registered dietician in your dietary planning when required. A clinical nutrition support team assists those patients who require intravenous nutrition. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your diet, please advise a member of your health care team and every effort will be made to satisfy your needs.

Incision Care

Many factors promote the safe and effective healing of your post-operative incision. Nursing staff will care for your incision and educate you on how to continue to provide effective care after you are discharged.

Patient Education

Through the use of personal teachings or educational materials, you will be provided with valuable information that will improve your surgical experience and outcome.

What to Bring

To make your stay as comfortable as possible, please bring personal care items such as shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, non-slip slippers, housecoat or any items specifically mentioned by your physician.

Leaving Valuables at Home

Southlake Regional Health Centre makes every effort to ensure a safe environment; however, we are unable to constantly monitor the traffic in patient care areas and therefore, cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen valuables. Please leave all personal items, large sums of money and credit cards safely at home.

Request for Patient Conditions/Information

In order to protect patient confidentiality and to ensure the accurate and consistent flow of communication between you and your health care team, it would be greatly appreciated if only one family representative was chosen to speak with nursing staff about your post-operative care. This person can ask questions of the nursing staff about your condition and care on behalf of your family and friends.

Visiting Hours

Southlake Regional Health Centre makes every effort to accommodate visiting hours that best suite the specific needs of our patients and their families/friends. However, in respect of all patients' privacy and rest requirements, we ask for your cooperation as follows:

At various times throughout the day, personal care is provided to patients by members of the health care team. Visitors may be asked to wait in the visitors' lounge as the patient(s) in the room receive this important one-to-one care.

We ask that each patient have no more than two visitors at a time in their room. Children are welcome to visit; however, they must be accompanied by, and under the supervision of, an adult at all times.

Parking

Please see our Patients and Visitors section for parking locations.

Home Care Support

The Community Care Access Centre staff are available 7 days a week, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. to arrange home care support at the time of your discharge. Each patient is given a personalized copy of their discharge instructions. A discharge planner is involved with all patients who will require placement to a long term care facility upon discharge from the hospital. Follow-up support for breast surgery or ostomy patients is provided by a specialized nurse from the hospital.

Discharge

Please make arrangements for transportation home by discharge time 9:00 a.m. This will allow us to accommodate other patients who require admission to the surgical unit.  Inform the surgical unit secretary of any circumstances which might delay your discharge.

Prescriptions for medications may be filled prior to or immediately following discharge.  For your convenience, Bridle Trail Pharmacy is located on the Main Floor, East Building.

Before leaving the hospital, please settle any outstanding financial charges at Financial Services, Main Floor, East Building.  Payments for discharge after hours or weekends will receive a bill in the mail.

For information on resources available to you during your hospital visit or stay (for example: parking, what to bring, discharge times and other helpful information) please click on Patients and Visitors.