Our Policies

To ensure that your stay with us is safe, pleasant and comfortable, we’ve compiled a list of our protocols and policies. Learn what to do in case of fire, about our commitment to patient privacy and other guidelines.

• For adults, we maintain records for 10 years beyond the last contact
• For minors, we maintain records for three years

Instructions for requesting a medical record

Request a copy of your medical record

If you hear a fire alarm within the hospital, please remain calm and stay where you are until given specific directions. If any action is needed, our staff will advise you about where to go. We often conduct fire drills to test our fire safety equipment and to make sure the staff knows how to respond in a fire emergency.

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health protects the private health information of our patients. We follow federal privacy standards for health care information established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.

Our Facility Directory provides the following information about patients:

• Name
• Location within the hospital
• Health status described in brief terms (for example: satisfactory, serious, critical) without disclosing specific medical information

Opting out of the Patient Directory

You have the right to opt out of the Facility Directory. However, we do not offer the option to choose who can be informed about your presence in the hospital.

• If you choose not to be listed in the Facility Directory, our staff will tell callers and visitors who inquire about you: “We have no information available on a patient by that name.”
• If you choose to be listed in the Facility Directory, we will release information about you only to individuals who ask for you by your first and last name.
• You may change your decision to be included in or excluded from the Facility Directory.

For the health and safety of our patients, visitors and employees, the use of tobacco products is prohibited on the hospital’s property. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are known causes of cancer and other fatal diseases. If you’re interested in nicotine replacement therapy, please talk with your provider. If you’re interested in quitting smoking:

• Call the Washington State Tobacco Quitline at 1-877-270-STOP, or 1-877-2NO-FUME (Español)

As a recipient of federal financial assistance, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is dedicated to providing services to patients and welcoming visitors in a manner that respects, protects, and promotes patient rights. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any person on the basis of age, race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical , mental or other disability, citizenship, medical condition, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits under any of its programs and activities, whether carried out by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health directly or through a contractor or any other entity with which Virginia Mason Franciscan Health arranges to carry out its programs and activities.

Contact any of our hospitals for location-specific information.

St. Anne Hospital
206-244-9970

St. Anthony Hospital
253-530-2000

St. Clare Hospital
253-985-1711

St. Elizabeth Hospital
360-802-8800

St. Francis Hospital
253-944-8100

St. Joseph Medical Center
253-426-4101

St. Michael Medical Center
564-240-1000

Virginia Mason Medical Center
206-624-1144