No matter what your age, if you are a St. Jude patient receiving treatment and staying in St. Jude-sponsored housing, you must have an adult caregiver staying with you. The exception to this rule is if you are only at St. Jude for a checkup and no treatment will be received.
Patients receiving treatment can become extremely ill and unable to care for themselves or call for assistance. Such a situation could have serious consequences if the patients are living alone. In addition, older patients who receive sedation or anesthesia can only be discharged when another adult is present to accept responsibility for the discharged patient. House facilities are not staffed or trained to take care of sick residents, so an adult caregiver must be available to ensure patient care and safety.
In rare cases an adult patient can obtain a waiver to the policy if no caregiver is available. A waiver must be approved before the patient can be left alone. The request process takes about three days to complete and must be approved by the attending physician, the housing director, and the chief medical officer. To apply for a waiver, call the St. Jude housing social worker at (901) 545-0608.
For more information, call the Director of Patient Housing at (901) 595-4366.