Social Work & Discharge Planning

Social Work & Discharge Planning

Our Social Work & Patient Flow team is here to assist and support you in making plans for your discharge. They will meet with you early in your admission, and discuss community support services and resources available to meet your post-discharge needs.

Your doctor and your nurse will give you instructions about your care at home. Some patients will require further follow-up appointments, medication and care at home after discharge from the hospital. Please be sure to discuss your needs with a member of your healthcare team.

Social Work

Social Workers help patients and families adjust to illness, access community resources and plan for post-discharge needs and services. Social workers focus on the social context of clients’ lives and on the resources available to help support their needs.

Social workers provide a number of services including:

  • Caregiver support
  • Counselling related to grief, illness and disability
  • Information regarding housing and financial support
  • Information and referral to community resources

Discharge Planning

The Discharge Planners are available to discuss future plans for patients and their families who may have continuing care needs after discharge. We will assist you in planning to get you home and back to your regular activities as soon as possible. We will meet with you early in your admission (often in the Emergency Department) to discuss your home situation, the supports that you were receiving prior to admission, and your concerns about discharge.

Hospital Discharge

We make every attempt to provide you with as much notice as possible of your discharge date so that you can make arrangements for transportation home. On your day of discharge, please be sure you have all of your possessions before leaving the hospital.

While our normal discharge time for medical and surgical units is between 10:00 am and 11:00 am, discharge may occur until 10:00 pm. If you have to wait for a ride and it is past your discharge time, you may be asked to leave your room and wait in a waiting area, so the room can be prepared for the next patient. Meals will not be served once you have been discharged. If you are going home by ambulance, you will be discharged when your ambulance travel has been confirmed.

Patient Flow

The Patient Flow Team works collaboratively to facilitate the ease of patient movement through the hospital. Consideration is given to bed requests for admitted patients from the Emergency Department, direct admits from physicians, patients from Surgical Day Care and the Gastroenterology suite, repatriations, moves related to infection control issues, palliative care and preferred accommodation.

Hours of Operation:
Monday to Friday: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm