Patient & Visitor Experience | MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital| MedStar Health

Patient Experience: MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

What to expect at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Front entrance to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Whether you are visiting a friend, coming for a doctor's appointment, having some tests, or being admitted as a patient, we want you to be comfortable at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center.

Please review the following information before your visit. Should you need information or assistance while you are at the hospital, ask any hospital employee. We're happy to help!

Patient and visitor check-in

Hospital admissions

Please use the hospital's main entrance. Check in at the front desk in the lobby, then go to the admissions office to your left. The hospital uses the FAST-PASS visitor management system. Visitors will be required to show their driver’s license or another type of government-issued identification upon check in.

Visitors without a valid identification card can be checked in on a one-time basis, but it will be important for them to have an ID for any following visits. Visitors will be issued a sticker badge to wear once checked in.

Labor and delivery

Patients can check in at the front desk and then proceed to the admissions office. If you arrive at the hospital after 11 p.m., you will need to check in with the hospital's Emergency Department instead.

Emergencies

Please go directly to the hospital's Emergency Department entrance and proceed to the check-in desk.

Outpatient surgery

Enter at the hospital's main entrance. Check in at the front desk in the lobby, then go to the admissions office on your left.

Preoperative testing

Report to the admissions office.

Cafeteria information

The hospital cafeteria is located on the ground floor. 

Hours of operation: 
Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. 
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Dinner: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Note: The cafeteria does not serve breakfast on weekends.

Meals and nutrition

Wholesome, nourishing, and well-balanced meals are essential to your treatment and recovery. MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center makes every effort to provide nutritious meals prepared according to your providers' orders.

Gift shop

The gift shop offers a variety of gifts to make a patient's day brighter, including cards, flowers, candy, magazines, and more. It is located just off the hospital lobby and is open currently 9 am-7 pm, Monday-Friday. We are not open 7 days a week right now, due to COVID.

Language assistance

Language assistance interpreters are available, free of charge, to help those who are more comfortable with a language other than English.

To arrange for language services, please call 301-868-8000.

Information about how to request an interpreter at MedStar Health, written in several different languages.

Patient rights and responsibilities

View or download a copy of the MedStar Southern Maryland Patient Rights and Responsibilities.