
Patients get chemotherapy (cancer-fighting drugs), blood products, and other medicines in the Infusion Center on an outpatient basis.
The Infusion Center is located on the northeast side of the Outpatient Clinics on the Patient Care Center’s first floor. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.
The doctor on-call may see your child for concerns that occur outside regular clinic hours. On weekends and after 5 p.m. on weekdays, the Infusion Center operates the after-hours clinic.
To ensure the right treatment for your child, several steps must occur. These steps depend on what day and time you arrive at the hospital.
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When you arrive at the hospital, stop in Patient Registration to get your child’s ID armband and schedule. If the schedule has a Pre-Clinic Assessment visit, your child’s first visit will be there to have vitals and lab draws if any have been ordered by your doctor. If you do not have a Pre-Clinic Assessment visit planned, go to the patient representative at your next scheduled location.
During visits in your child’s primary clinic, the doctor will write the order for any medicine your child will get in the Infusion Center.
After you leave the clinic, staff will process the doctor’s order. Please check in with the patient representative just outside the Infusion Center. This lets the staff know that your child is waiting to be seen. Because of limited space and privacy needs, please stay in the waiting area until your child is called to clinic.
The doctor’s order first goes to the Pharmacy. The Pharmacy makes the medicine and delivers it to the Infusion Center. Two registered nurses check the medicine to make sure it is what the doctor ordered. Then, staff will call your child to the Infusion Center. If delays occur in any part of this process, your child might be called to the Infusion Center later than planned.
If you need to come to the Infusion Center before your child is called, please stop at the front desk in the Infusion Center. The patient representative will be glad to help. If there is a problem during the day, ask for the clinical staff leader. A nursing coordinator is also in the hospital at all times to help you.
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When the clinics close at 5 p.m., patients visit the Infusion Center for unplanned visits such as for central line problems, fever, or illness.
After 5 p.m., you begin your hospital visits in Patient Registration. After 10 p.m., the Infusion Center staff registers your child.
After registering, take your child to Pre-Clinic Assessment. After 5:30 p.m., the Infusion Center staff will assess your child.
The patient representative’s desk is not staffed on weeknights, so after your child has been assessed go directly to the Infusion Center. You might be asked to wait in the lobby after check-in. Infusion Center staff will let you know when they are ready for your child.
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Your first stop is Patient Registration for your child’s ID armband. Then, the staff direct you to either Pre-Clinic Assessment or the Infusion Center for vital signs and to have samples taken for lab tests. If you need to schedule follow-up visits, a nurse scheduler is in the Infusion Center on weekends from 7 a.m.–7 p.m.
If your child might have an illness that can spread to others:
If you think your child might have been exposed to an illness that could spread to other patients, please call before coming to the hospital. Call 901-595-3300 and ask for the nursing coordinator. If you are outside of the Memphis area, dial toll-free 1-866-278-5833.
Your child might need to have an isolation visit.
Doctor on-call
Parents can speak to a doctor after hours for urgent needs by calling the main operator at 901-595-3300 and asking for the doctor on-call. If you are outside of the Memphis area, dial toll-free 1-866-278-5833, and press 0.