Welcome to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH). Thank you for trusting us.

Thank you for choosing to receive your medical care at your community hospital. The SBELIH Family is dedicated to providing each patient with the highest standard of medical care. We proudly boast a reputation for combining advanced technology and medical expertise with “compassionate caring” and extraordinary personal attention. You are our focus― your comfort, healing and restoration to good health.

If you have any questions concerning your care, you are urged to discuss them with your nurse, physician, or hospital representative. The nurse coordinator of your unit is an excellent resource for inquiries from you or your family.

On behalf of the entire SBELIH family, we wish you a speedy recovery.

Critical Care Patient and Family Information

Committed to Providing the Highest Quality Care

A Partnership That Brings The Most Advanced Intensive Care Around-The-Clock

In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), every second counts, no matter the hour or the day. That is why Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH) has partnered with Hicuity Health®.

Hicuity Health and SBELIH work with your doctors to deliver monitoring by highly trained intensivist physicians and critical care specialists 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing an extra layer of care that enhances patient safety. In collaboration with your physicians and nurses at the bedside, Hicuity Health and SBELIH intensivists (doctors with special training in critical care) are always there, using special computer technology to monitor your condition every minute of the day.

Personal Care When It’s Needed Most

Your doctor will still care for you. Hicuity Health and SBELIH work closely with your doctor to complement their care plans by making sure you receive the highest level of care.

The Hicuity Health and SBELIH team of intensivists and critical care nurses work from a remote operation center around-the-clock complementing the care provided by the SBELIH physicians. This team of highly skilled and extensively trained professionals uses leading technology to continuously monitor real-time patient vital signs, medications, labs and clinical status. Proactive data management tools help identify problems before they become urgent, prompting immediate intervention when necessary. This constant monitoring ensures that help is available when needed.

Your ICU room is equipped with a screen, microphone and camera that enable tele-ICU critical specialists to communicate with you, your doctors, your family and your bedside team. A tele-ICU specialist might turn on the camera to speak with you or check on your status. A doorbell will usually chime, alerting you that the camera is turning on, and then the camera will turn in the direction of your bed. Video and audio communications are never recorded. Tele-ICU specialists are HIPAA compliant and all patient information that is shared is secure.

The alert button located in your room is for bedside staff in the event of an emergency. A tele-ICU critical care specialist will typically respond within 1 minute.

We understand how difficult an ICU stay can be for patients and their families. SBELIH is committed to providing the highest level of care and support to reduce the stress and anxiety that often accompany a serious illness or injury. If you have any questions about our intensive care unit, please talk with your bedside nurse.

Here For You And Your Loved One

When a loved one is sick, it can upset the entire family. Along with anxious and sad feelings, family members may feel afraid, helpless, confused or angry. All of the feelings are perfectly normal. The critical care team understands these emotions and wants to help. You and your loved one are important to us.

Arriving In Critical Care

When you enter the Critical Care Unit, you may see several pieces of unfamiliar equipment surrounding your loved one. Each of the tubes and machines is important to the treatment of the patient. Some deliver nutrition or medicine, while others remove urine or stomach contents. Each machine has distinct alarms to notify the critical care team of changes. The nurse caring for your loved one will explain these to you.

Please wash your hands before and after you touch your loved one. This can help protect them from infection. An alcohol rub is available in each room for you to use in place of hand washing.

Please do not visit if you are sick or have been sick recently. This may be dangerous to your 
loved one.

Take care of yourself while your loved one is in critical care. You should get enough rest, eat well and take breaks.

Let the patient know you are there. Even if your loved one is not as alert as normal, a familiar voice or touch can be comforting. Some patients should not be stimulated. Your nurse will let you know if your loved one should not be spoken to or touched.

Be Positive
Make sure that your conversations will not upset the patient. Keep topics light.

Listen
Listen when the patient wants to talk. It may be very important for your loved one to share their thoughts with someone familiar. Patients with a ventilator (breathing tube) will not be able to talk.

Equipment
Please do not touch equipment. Lights and alarms do not always indicate a problem. If you think there is a problem with one of the machines, get help from the nursing staff. Do not try to fix yourself.

Privacy
To maintain privacy, loitering in the hallways is not allowed.

Ask
Be sure to ask the physician in charge for any information that you do not understand. Write down any questions as a reminder.

Visitation Guidelines

Please limit visitors to two over the age of 12.

Exceptions may be made on an individual basis for new admissions, scheduled procedures or a change in the patient’s condition.

You may be asked to wait due to emergencies, shift change or procedures or if the patient is receiving special care.

Exceptions may be made on an individual basis for new admissions, scheduled procedures or a change in the patient’s condition.

Select a family spokesperson to speak on behalf of the whole family, and who can share information back to the family, as well.

If the nurse is busy with procedures or performing nursing care at the time of your call, the unit secretary may ask you to call back or allow you to speak to a family member who is present.

Because of federal privacy laws, detailed information may not be given over the phone. Make sure we know how to contact you when you are not in the waiting room.

To help us maintain a clean environment for your loved one, please do not bring food into the patient rooms. However, for your comfort, covered beverages are allowed.

Visitor and Family Information

Visiting Hours: 1 pm to 8 pm

Due to the severity of illness in the ICU, visitation guidelines may be modified at any time. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Physicians arrive daily at different times to see their patients. This is based upon their schedule and any emergencies.

Once the physician arrives, they need time to review the chart and assess the patient before discussing the plan for care. Please ask all questions at this time. Please use cell phones outside of the unit.