Patient Privacy, Safety, & Rights

Because we believe in quality healthcare, Mount Nittany Medical Center promotes patient safety and establishes protocols and processes to avoid medical errors. We also invest in continuing education opportunities that allow our staff to keep current with medical advances and best practices.

Medical errors are mistakes that may involve medication, surgery, tests or other components of your healthcare. While we're committed to procedures that ensure that these are minimized, there are also many ways you can help promote your safety and minimize the chance of medical errors.

• Talk to your healthcare providers. Tell them about your health. Ask them any questions you have. If you don't understand something, ask for clarification.
• If you are admitted to a medical facility, take a complete list of your medications with you and show it to your physician and your nurse. This will help them make sure that any new medications will not cause problems with ones you already take.
• Tell your physician if you have any allergies and tell him or her about any problems that your medications have caused, such as a rash or stomachache.
• Do not tamper with any equipment in your room. Call for a nurse if you have questions or concerns about the equipment in your room.
• If you have been cautioned not to get out of bed without assistance, please follow these instructions; they are meant to help protect you from falling and possibly suffering a serious injury.
• When you pick up your medication at the drugstore, make sure that it is what your physician ordered. If you have any questions about your prescription, ask the pharmacist before you leave the drug store.

Contact the Patient Safety Officer

Have a question about patient safety? 

Contact our Patient Safety Officer, Suzanne Barkley, by calling 814.234.7651 or emailing Suzanne.Barkley@mountnittany.org.

As a patient at Mount Nittany Medical Center, you have significant rights and responsibilities to ensure you receive the best possible care.

At Mount Nittany Health, we fully support the rights and responsibilities of our patients as detailed by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. You can read their brochure, which outlines your patient rights and responsibilities.

This brochure outlines your rights concerning:

• Communication
• Making informed decisions and advance directives
• Visitation
• Care planning and delivery
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Hospital bills
• Complaints, concerns and questions

It also addresses patient responsibilities concerning:

• Providing information
• Respect and consideration
• Safety
• Refusing care
• Charges
• Cooperation

If you have a concern or an unmet need, voicing it directly to your physician, nurse or the nurse manager of your floor, in most cases, resolves the issue quickly and effectively.

If you feel your issue requires more attention or is not resolved to your satisfaction, please contact our patient representative at 814.234.6706. You may also speak with a patient representative regarding HCAHPS or Press Ganey surveys. Staff is available Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. If calling after hours, please leave a message and a representative will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you feel your issue or concern was not addressed by Mount Nittany Health, you may also contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health:

Pennsylvania Department of Health
Acute and Ambulatory Care Services
P.O. Box 90
Harrisburg, PA 17180-0090
800.254.5164

Patient safety concerns can also be reported to The Joint Commission:

• At jointcommission.org, using the “Report a Patient Safety Event” link in the “Action Center” on the home page of the website
• By fax to 630.792.5636
• By mail to:
• Office of Quality and Patient Safety, The Joint Commission,
• One Renaissance Boulevard,
• Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181