Thank you for choosing Huntsman Cancer Institute for your cancer care. We work hard to ensure you have an exceptional experience with the best possible results. You are in good hands.
You can help your health care team. Here are important tips to remember for every visit.
Check
- Check to make sure things look right. For example, is your chemotherapy the same color as last time? Are your pills the same shape? If you notice anything out of the ordinary, inform your care team immediately.
- Check to make sure you understood your care providers by repeating the information they gave you.
Ask
Everyone on your team, including you, should understand the instructions and information given to you. Team members should remind one another about important safety information.
- Ask what side effects to expect from your medications and what to do if you have those side effects.
- Ask your health care provider to repeat anything you didn’t hear or understand.
- Ask any other questions you have about your treatment or care.
Notify
Team members should speak up when they see danger or suspect a mistake. They should also share information that will help the team perform better.
- Notify your care providers about any problems or side effects you’ve had between visits.
- Notify your nurse if your doctor made any last-minute changes to your treatment. Even though your care providers work as a team, you can help make sure everyone has the same information.
Preparing for Your Stay
Prior to arriving at Huntsman Cancer Institute for your inpatient visit, learn how to prepare for your stay.
What You Will Need
Here are items that you should bring with you for your stay:
- Your medical insurance card and prescription card
- A list of all the prescription medications you take
- A list of all over-the-counter medicines and vitamins you take, including herbal medicines and supplements
Things to Leave at Home
If you brought any of these items, please send them home with a family member or friend. Huntsman Cancer Institute is not responsible for any personal items brought from home.
- Prescription medications—we provide all prescription medicines you will need during your stay
- Jewelry and other valuables
- Credit cards and money
- Blow dryers, electric razors, and other heat-generating electric equipment that plug in; if you’re not sure if a device is a fire hazard, please ask to have our facilities staff check it out
During Your Stay in the Hospital
Room Features
Television
- Each patient bed has TV controls on the side rails. We offer live TV channels and have many videos you can watch in your room. Hospital North rooms have HDMI cords and DVD players are available in Hospital South rooms. Ask a nurse for details.
Nurse Call Light
- Bedside rails also have nurse call lights. There is a separate nurse call light hand control near each bed.
In-Room Phone
- Hospital North: The direct phone line into your room is 801-646-[your four-digit room number].
- Hospital South: The direct phone line into your room is 801-587-[your four-digit room number].
- Dial ‘0’ for the Huntsman Cancer Institute operator.
- Local calls can be made from rooms by first dialing “9” then entering the phone number, including the area code.
- Cell phones can also be used in patient rooms and in most places throughout the hospital.
Frequently Used Phone Numbers
To reach one of these resources, dial the extension below from the phone in your hospital room.
- Billing and Financial Advocates: 7-6303 or 1-2957
- Cancer Learning Center: 1-6365
- Information Desk: 5-0100
- Patient and Family Support Social Services: 3-5699
- Patient and Family Housing: 1-4763
- Pharmacy: 5-0172
- Room Service: 7-4600
- Spiritual Care: F-A-I-T-H (3-2484)
- Wellness Center: 7-4585
Wi-Fi Internet Access
UGuest provides basic internet access to Huntsman Cancer Institute patients and visitors. University of Utah employees and students should connect to UConnect for Wi-Fi access.
Patients and visitors can connect to UGuest by following these steps:
- From your device, select the UGuest wireless network in your network settings.
- A browser window will open for the UGuest web portal.
- Select the link to receive an access code.
- Enter your mobile device number.
- An access code will be sent to your mobile device via SMS message.
- Enter the access code and mobile phone number in the UGuest web portal.
- Once connected, close your web browser and use the internet.
If you need assistance, call the University of Utah IT Help Desk at 801-581-4000 x 1 or visit https://it.utah.edu/.
While You’re Here
You may have time between appointments, while waiting for lab work, or during treatments. Huntsman Cancer Institute offers many ways to help patients and visitors pass the time:
- Stop by our gift shop for cards, gifts, toiletries, and snacks. The gift shop is located in the Huntsman Cancer Institute Hospital lobby on the first floor.
- Visit the Cancer Learning Center, which has thousands of books and audio resources you may borrow for free.
- Eat at one of our dining options, including two restaurants and a Starbucks coffee shop on the sixth floors of the hospital and research building.
- Visit the outdoor labyrinth on the fourth-floor patio. A labyrinth is an outlined path used for walking meditation. We also offer handheld labyrinths for patients and visitors to trace with their fingers while in patient rooms or to take home with them.
Visitor & Guest Information
There is no higher priority at Huntsman Cancer Institute than giving our patients and visitors a safe place to visit and be treated. Our visitor policies help ensure the safety of visitors, employees, and patients with weakened immune systems.
Guidelines for ICU, BMT, and HEME Units
People in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit, and Huntsman Hospital North 4k Hematology (HEME) Unit are at increased risk of infection and illness. Help prevent infection to keep them safe:
- Follow all posted signs.
- No one under the age of 14 is permitted in patient rooms.
- Pets are not allowed in ICU, BMT, or HEME patient rooms.
- Latex balloons, live plants or flowers, and essential oil diffusers are not allowed in the ICU, BMT, or HEME units.
- Perform a self-check for illness each day you visit.
Visitor Policy
- BMT/Hematology inpatients may only have two visitors over the age of 14 years at any given time.
- Visiting hours are 5 am-10 pm daily. Note that visiting hours are subject to change.
- All visitors must be free of illness.
- All individuals must follow current masking guidelines.
- Up to four visitors over the age of five may be present in the patient’s room at a time. Other visitors are asked to wait in the fifth-floor waiting room or first-floor lobby.
- Please check with your nurse about number of visitors and special rules for children and pets.
- One adult age 18 or older may stay overnight in the patient’s room. A couch in each patient room folds into a bed.
- Visitors should stay in the patient’s room or approved waiting area. This gives privacy to other patients and allows staff to do their jobs.
- Visitors are asked to use public bathrooms located on each floor instead of those in patient rooms.
Helpful Tips for Visitors
- Check in at the nurses’ station before going to a patient room.
- Reschedule if a visitor feels sick, has a fever, or has any flu-like symptoms.
- Always wash or sanitize hands before entering the room and often thereafter.
- Ask nursing staff if you need extra precautions such as a mask, gloves, or gown before entering a patient room.
- Do not bring latex balloons. Please check with nursing staff before bringing flowers as some units do not allow them.
- Visitors may access the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, but patients should not accompany them.
Amenities for Patients' Loved Ones
Having a loved one in the hospital can be very stressful. It is important to take care of yourself, too.
Showers
Family and visitor showers are located on the fourth and fifth floors of Cancer Hospital North and Cancer Hospital South. The unit can provide fresh towels, but visitors should bring their own toiletries.
- Cancer Hospital North: Showers are located west of the elevators in the waiting area on both the fourth and fifth floors.
- Note: The water might take a moment to start flowing from the shower head. After you finish your shower, it's normal for the valve near the grab bar to leak for up to 30 seconds.
- Cancer Hospital South: Fourth-floor showers are located across the hall from rooms 4502 and 4503. Fifth-floor showers are located near 5502 and 5503.
Kitchens
The visitor and family kitchens are located on the fourth and fifth floors of Cancer Hospital North and Cancer Hospital South. There are community refrigerators (please label food with the date and patient name), microwaves, and vending machines.
- Cancer Hospital North: Kitchens are located next to the family laundry rooms in the waiting areas.
- Cancer Hospital South: The fourth-floor kitchen is at the west end of the elevator lobby. The fifth-floor kitchen is in the south part of the lobby area.
Laundry
Visitor laundry services are available to family, caregivers, and loved ones. Laundry detergent may be available from Volunteer Services.
- Cancer Hospital North: Laundry rooms are available in the fourth-floor and fifth-floor waiting areas.
- Cancer Hospital South: Laundry rooms are near the showers.
Other Patient and Visitor Services
Volunteer Services maintains a food pantry to help loved ones of patients while they stay in the hospital. The pantry includes shelf-stable food items such as canned soups, chips, granola bars, and more. We also have gently used clothing items available.
Services and Building Features
Art Collection
Huntsman Cancer Institute is home to thousands of original paintings, sculpture, and pottery. Works displayed in the Kathryn F. Kirk Center are modern and contemporary pieces created by Indigenous artists.
ATM
A UFirst Credit Union ATM is on the sixth floor of Cancer Hospital South, by the elevators.
Chapel and Meditation Room
Visit the Elyse Pantke White Chapel and Meditation Room and enjoy a comfortable space for quiet reflection. Located on the fifth floor of Cancer Hospital South, to the left when exiting the elevators.
Dining Options
Dining options, including two restaurants and a Starbucks, are located on the sixth floors of Cancer Hospital South and Jon M. Huntsman Cancer Research Center. Vending machines are also located on the second floor of Cancer Hospital South and on the fourth and fifth floors near inpatient units in Cancer Hospital North and Cancer Hospital South.
Financial Advocates
Our financial advocates can help if you need help understanding your insurance, are worried you won’t be able to pay for your cancer care, or can’t figure out your medical bills. Call us at 801-581-2957.
Free Valet
Valet services are available Monday through Friday from 6 am–6 pm. You may leave your car at the front door of Cancer Hospital North or Cancer Hospital South when you arrive. We will bring it back to you when you are ready to go. (No tipping, please).
Gift Shop
Visit our gift shop located in the hospital lobby for cards, gifts, toiletries, and snacks. Open weekdays 10 am–4 pm.
Patient Patio
Enjoy open space, fresh air, and comfortable chairs in the Miche Healing Garden behind Cancer Hospital South, accessible from the family lounge area on the fourth floor. Visitors in need of a refreshing walk can hike the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. (No patients, please).
Pharmacy
Pharmacists from the Huntsman Cancer Institute pharmacy can bring medication and discuss it with you in your inpatient room and provide information about your medicines before you leave the hospital. Our on-site cancer-specialty pharmacy is located on the first floor of Cancer Hospital South.
Spiritual Care
Our multi-faith chaplains provide spiritual support for patients and their loved ones. Chaplains help each person find meaning and comfort in difficult times. They can also arrange a visit from a priest, bishop, rabbi, or other spiritual leader of your choice. Contact a chaplain by dialing FAITH from any hospital phone or fill out the Chaplain Request Form.
Volunteers
Volunteers are here to help bring caring attitudes and listening ears. They also provide many other services and comforts, such as books, magazines, a journal, or a visit from a pet therapy animal. Call Volunteer Services from a hospital phone at 7-4050.
Share Your Wishes: Advance Health Care Directives
An advance directive is a way to tell your loved ones and doctors your wishes if something happens and you can’t speak for yourself. A directive can include the type and extent of your medical care. It can help your family and care team better understand your values. Being prepared can bring you and your loved ones' peace of mind.
Who should have an advance directive?
Everyone. Each person may face an unexpected medical crisis. Illnesses or injury can make anyone unable to make decisions or speak for themselves. That makes it much harder for family and loves ones to know what to do.
When should I fill out my advance directive?
Now. It is best do it while you are able to think clearly and before a crisis ever happens. It is a good idea to review and update your directive every year.
How do I get started?
Your doctor, nurse, or social worker can provide the forms to begin. Many people feel nervous about an advance directive. With the right forms and help from your care team, you can feel good about the decisions you make.
Can I change my mind?
Yes. You can change or update a directive at any time. Your directive only takes effect if you cannot speak for yourself.
Discharge Planning: Getting Ready to Leave the Hospital
A case manager is a nurse who works with you, your family, and your care team members as you get ready to leave the hospital. Your case manager helps make sure everything you will need is in place when you go home and assists with the following:
- Coordinates your needs and care with other team members, including doctors, dieticians, social workers, and other care providers
- Helps you make decisions about the therapy, nursing, and home health care you need after you go home
- Arranges for any items you may need after you leave the hospital such as a walker, hospital bed, and oxygen
- Answers any financial and insurance coverage questions
- Provides information about helpful community resources
Please let you care team know if you would like to meet with a case manager for a discharge evaluation plan.