Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center staff are committed to work as a team that includes you and your family members. To protect the health and privacy of all our patients, we follow policies and procedures described below.
To protect the safety and well-being of all Fred Hutch patients, please read the below guidelines before your first visit. Caregivers should not come to the clinic with cold and flu symptoms. Hand hygiene stations are located in the elevator lobbies on each clinic floor as well as the parking garage.
Fresh or dried flowers and plants are not allowed in Fred Hutch clinics because of the organisms that grow on them and in the dirt or water, which can cause infections. Balloons and silk flowers are okay. Make sure there is no decorative moss around silk flowers. Only artificial moss is allowed.
For the comfort of our patients, Fred Hutch is a fragrance-free environment.
We are committed to providing an entirely smoke- and tobacco-free environment for all patients, visitors and staff. Smoking is not allowed in any area, including buildings, grounds and parking lots.
According to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), public and private hospitals and medical clinics must allow people with disabilities to bring their service dogs. At Fred Hutch, service dogs can go with owners in almost all areas of the clinic. Service dogs are not allowed in imaging rooms, procedure suites or in the oncology units at UW Medical Center - Montlake.
According to the ADA, a service animal is any guide dog, signal dog or other dog trained to help a person’s sensory, mental or physical disability. For instance, service dogs are trained to:
Service dogs are trained to help with a task directly related to a person’s disability. People with disabilities who own service dogs are protected under the ADA. Service dogs are not pets.
A therapy animal is trained to provide comfort to one or more people. Therapy animals of any kind are not allowed in the clinic.
When you bring your service dog to the clinic for the first time:
Your service dog will not be allowed in the clinic if it:
No. You are responsible for the care and supervision of your service animal at all times. As part of this, you must:
To help prevent patients who may be weak from falling, we ask service dog owners to:
To help prevent infection among our many patients with severely weakened immune systems, we ask service dog owners to:
Fred Hutch respects the rights of all of our patients, equally and individually. Your rights include medical care guided by the best medical practices, participation in making informed decisions about your care, voluntary participation in medical research studies, confidentiality of your health information and access to your medical records. As a patient of Fred Hutch, you share in the responsibility for your care, which includes providing complete information about your health and medications, keeping appointments, promptly meeting financial obligations and following Fred Hutch rules.
If you have concerns, we encourage you to talk with your health care team initially. If this does not resolve your issue, please contact Fred Hutch Patient Relations at 206.606.1056 or ptrelate@fredhutch.org.
If you want a copy of the medical record of your Fred Hutch treatment, you will be asked to sign an authorization form. There is no charge for records released to you or your doctor. Contact medical records for Fred Hutch clinics at 206.606.1114 and for UW Medical Center at 206.744.9000.
Fred Hutch takes pride in providing care of the highest quality and safety, as reflected in our high survival rates and in receiving the Joint Commission’s Golden Seal of Approval. Research shows that the best way to protect patient safety is a team approach to care — with patients and their families taking an active role.