Important Contacts

Listed below is contact information for some of the groups who are here to serve you during your stay.

Patient Advocates: 919-681-2020

The Department of Patient and Visitor Relations is here to help patients, their families, and visitors at Duke University Hospital. As advocates for you and your family, patient representatives can:

• Listen to and follow up on your concerns or complaints
• Answer questions or direct your request to the right hospital departments
• Orient your visitors to the hospital
• Arrange for special services or direct you to resources in the community

Social Workers: 919-681-4722

Clinical social workers can help you and your family manage the stresses of illness, hospitalization, and treatment. At your request, or the request of other hospital staff, an experienced social worker can meet with you to:

• Discuss your family's needs and concerns
• Assist you in securing available community resources and/or financial assistance
• Provide individual, family, and group counseling

Patient Resource Managers/Case Managers: 919-668-2483

Patient resource managers work closely with the physician and health care team to coordinate your care throughout your hospitalization and to make sure you have the resources you need once you leave the hospital and return to your community.

Patient Resource Mangers work with you and:

• Your health care team to make sure and your family understand and can actively participate in the plan of care
• Your insurance company to obtain approval/payment for services
• Health care agencies you may need to continue your care once you leave the hospital

Case managers are available in areas where the Patient Resource Management Program has not yet been established. Case managers ensure communication between you, your medical team, and your insurance company to obtain approval/payment for services.

Discharge planning needs in areas not yet covered by the Patient Resource Management Program will be covered by the Department of Social Work. To learn whether you are in an area served by Case Managers or Patient Resource Managers, ask your nurse.

Volunteers: 919-681-6088

Volunteers are a special part of your support network here at Duke. They serve in more than 20 different programs, and do everything from providing entertainment to offering a listening ear.

If you would like a volunteer to visit you, please contact the Volunteer program coordinator.

Ethics Consultation Services: 919-970-8209 (pager)

Duke University Hospital's Ethics Consultation Services (ECS) helps caregivers, patients, and families resolve ethical issues surrounding patient care. These issues may include starting or withdrawing life support, or patients' and families' rights to refuse recommended therapies or limit therapeutic efforts.

The ECS includes physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains. They may consult with others who have expertise related to the concern at hand. The ECS is solely an advisory service. There are no charges for an ethics consultation. You may request a consultation by paging the number above.

Duke Pastoral Services: 919-684-3586

Duke University Hospital chaplains minister to all who desire spiritual support. If you would like to see a chaplain, or have a chaplain contact a representative of your own faith, your nurse can make the arrangements.

There is a chapel on the sixth floor of Duke University Hospital, where ecumenical chapel services are held at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. Sunday services at the Duke University Chapel are broadcast on Channel 50 at 11 a.m.

Learn more about Pastoral Services at Duke.

Bereavement Services: 919-684-4750

Duke Bereavement Services representatives help support patients and families before, during, and after a death. They educate people, coordinate services, and refer people to helpful resources both within the Medical Center and in the community.

Learn more about Bereavement Services at Duke.

Decedent Care Program: 919-681-6264

Part of Bereavement Services, the Decedent Care program makes sure that all the details at the time of death of a patient are handled in a thorough and sensitive manner.

The program helps coordinate the paperwork when a patient dies, provides helpful and clear information to the deceased family, and helps the family make arrangements with a funeral home.

Learn more about Decedent Care at Duke.

Services for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: 919-681-2020

Resources include a Touchable Art Gallery, Triangle Radio Reading Service, refer to TV Guide, materials on audiocassette tape, Patient Rights in Braille materials, and more.

Environmental Services (Housekeeping): 919-681-2727

• Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., please call 681-2727.
• Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., please ask your nurse to page the Environmental Services Manager.

Hair Care Services: 919-681-2020

If your health care team approves, you can have a hairstylist visit your room. Please pay the hairstylist or barber at the time of service.

Lost and Found: 919-681-2020

If you lose a personal item during your stay, tell your nurse immediately so that every effort can be made to find it.

Other Important Phone Numbers

Emergency: 911

Patient Account Services:
Local: 919-620-4555
Toll-free: 800-782-6945

Gift Shop (The Pink Smock): 919-681-6186

Host Homes: 919-681-4688

Interpreters
Hearing Impaired: 919-681-2020
Foreign Languages: 919-681-3007

Health Arts Network: 919-684-2007

Menus for Duke Hospital Cafeterias: 919-681-3463

Duke Parking Office: 919-684-5773

Duke Patient Information: 919-684-2410

Duke Patient and Visitor Relations: 919-681-2020

Duke Public Safety: 919-684-2444

Transit Information: 919-684-2218 or 919-681-4001

Safe Escort Service: 919-684-SAFE (7233)

Duke Parking Services: 919-684-5773