Scheduling, Registration and Admissions
The Admissions Office is conveniently located on the lower level of the hospital (north entrance via Seventh Avenue parking lot). Admission hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. To reduce your wait time and process time for admissions, you are encouraged to call the Admissions Office, (760) 957-3130 (inpatient) or 957-3131 or 957-3199 (outpatient) in advance and pre-register. By pre-registering over the phone, you will simply need to sign the paperwork, show verification of your insurance and identification once you arrive at the hospital.
During your registration for medical services, information and authorization will be needed for your medical record and for financial arrangements. All information will be handled confidentially. Please bring any insurance materials including your insurance and/or Medicare/MediCal cards and pay any co-pays or deductibles if owed.
Other helpful information to bring with you includes a medical history (previous surgeries or medical conditions, allergies, etc.), a list of medications you take, and your advance directive if you have one.
If you are staying overnight, your room assignment will be determined by the kind of medical care you are to receive and room availability. As your condition improves, you may be transferred to another unit in the hospital.
All patients are admitted to Barstow Community Hospital without regard to race, creed, color, sex, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, economic status, educational background, or the source of payment for care.
It is very important that you have your insurance identification cards with you when you are admitted to Barstow Community Hospital. This enables us to provide proper billing, verify insurance benefits promptly and obtain pre-approval for HMO patients before receiving services.
You will be asked upon admission to pay any insurance co-pay or deductible not covered by your insurance. As a courtesy to you, the hospital will bill your insurance company. If your insurance company requests additional information from you, please respond as soon as possible. A delay in returning the requested information will also delay payment to your account. After discharge from the hospital, you will receive a monthly statement from the hospital to keep you informed of the insurance payment status. Because the insurance company’s response time may vary, you may not notice the insurance payment on the initial statements.
Please keep in mind that (with the exception of HMOs) your hospitalization coverage is a contract between you and your insurance company, and we will cooperate to the fullest in expediting your claim. You are ultimately responsible for your account.
Your hospital bill does not include fees for the professional services of your physician, surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist, pathologist, consulting physicians and emergency room physicians. You will receive separate billings for services provided by these specialists.
If you do not have insurance coverage, you must make a deposit prior to your admission (non-emergency) and have satisfactory arrangements made for payment of any balance due. The hospital accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover for prepayments and the estimated portion of your bill which is due on admission.
We will be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning your financial arrangements. Call the Financial Counselor at 957-3199 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.