Resources for Patients and Visitors at UPMC Mercy
Visiting Guidelines
UPMC Mercy knows how important it is for family and friends to be involved in, and to support you during your recovery. Our family-centered care philosophy offers flexibility for visiting. However, your health and overall safety and security influence the number of visitors and time they can spend with you.
General visiting hours
General visiting hours are 1 to 8:30 p.m. daily for a majority of inpatient units. Some specialty care units, such as the Intensive Care Unit, observe different visiting hours. Please check with your loved one’s nurse for additional information.
Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) visiting hours:
9 to 10 a.m.
2 to 3 p.m.
6 to 7 p.m.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) visiting hours:
8 to 8:30 a.m.
Noon to 2 p.m.
5 to 6 p.m.
7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Labor and Delivery:
Speak with the unit nurse
Trauma and Burn Center (TBC) visiting hours:
Noon to 8:30 p.m.
Neuro-Continuous Care Unit (NCCU) visiting hours:
Noon to 8:30 p.m.
We ask visitors to UPMC Mercy to observe the following general guidelines, as well as any other guidelines noted by your loved one’s patient care team:
- Visitors are permitted to enter only the area which they are visiting.
- Please use hand sanitizer prior to entering an inpatient care unit. For your convenience, hand sanitizer dispensers are located at the main entrances to the hospital and on each patient care unit. Please wash hands with soap and water prior to entering your loved one’s room.
- Visitors who have an active communicable infection, such as an upper respiratory, viral, or skin infection, or infectious diarrhea, should not visit. Doing so could compromise your loved one’s recovery.
- Except for children of a patient, all children who visit must be at least 12 years of age. Please check with your loved one’s nurse before having children visit. All children must be supervised at all times by a responsible adult. No child should be brought to visit if they have a fever, respiratory infection, gastrointestinal infection, diarrhea, or exposure within the preceding three weeks to measles, mumps, chicken pox, or German measles.
- No more than two people should visit with a patient at one time.
- If you have a special request regarding visiting hours, please talk with your loved one’s nurse.
- For infection control reasons, live flowers, plants, and fresh fruit are not permitted in critical care units. Please check with your loved one’s nurse to see what is permitted.
Top
Overnight Accommodations
McAuley Inn
McAuley Inn is named for Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, the religious order that established Pittsburgh’s first hospital in 1847. Conveniently located at UPMC Mercy, McAuley Inn offers clean, comfortable, home-like, and affordable overnight accommodations for patients and their loved ones for a nominal fee.
Amenities include:
- Private sleeping rooms
- Chaplain and spiritual care services available 24 hours a day
- Complimentary in-house telephone services
- Complimentary laundry facilities
- Reduced parking
- Easy access to the hospital’s Cafeteria, vending areas, and ATM machine
- Television in each room
- A community room
For more information about McAuley Inn or to arrange a stay, please call the Department of Spiritual Care at 412-232-7424 or 412-232-8198.
Family House
Family House, established in 1983, is a non-profit licensed organization that provides a special ‘home away from home’ for patients and their families who must travel to Pittsburgh for treatment of serious or life-threatening illnesses. By providing a supportive, home-like environment, Family House strives to make a difference in the quality of the families’ lives while they are in Pittsburgh. Located in the Oakland and Shadyside sections of Pittsburgh, Family House operates four free-standing houses (Family House Shadyside, Family House McKee, Family House Neville and Family House University Place) with a total of 160 guest rooms. For housing information, please call 412-647-7777 or visit www.familyhouse.org/.
Top
Cafeteria
The cafeteria on Level 2, Building A is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Meals are served during the following times:
- Breakfast: 6 to 9:30 a.m.
- Lunch: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Dinner: 4 to 7 p.m.
Visitors may prefer to visit before 11:30 a.m. or after 12:30 p.m. to avoid peak congestion times. To hear the day’s selections, call the Menu Line at 412-232-8600 and then dial MENU (6368).
The 1847 Café
The 1847 Café on the ground floor, Building C is open weekdays from 6:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To hear the day’s selections, call the Menu Line at 412-232-8600 and then dial MENU (6368).
Top
Vending Areas
Vending machines are located near many waiting rooms as well as next to the main entrance of the cafeteria on Level 2, Building A. This area also has a microwave oven and a change machine for your convenience.
Top
Banking Machine
A 24-hour PNC Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is located on Level 2, Building E, down the hall from the cafeteria and vending area.
Top
Seven Sisters Gift Shop
The Seven Sisters Gift Shop is on the ground floor, Building E, immediately to the left upon coming through the main entrance. We offer a selection of fresh flower arrangements, stuffed animals, cards, candy, gift items, magazines, newspapers, and more.
Hours of operation are:
- Weekdays: 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Weekends: from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Gift shop hours vary on holidays.
You may place an order for delivery by calling 412-232-8018 during regular business hours. Acceptable forms of payment are MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover.
Please note that live plants and fresh flowers are not permitted in the following areas:
- Birmingham Trauma and Burn Center
- Cardiovascular intensive care unit
- Intensive care unit
- Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
Top
UPMC Mercy is pleased to offer family and friends of hospital inpatients the opportunity to send their loved one a free electronic greeting card—also known as an E-card—while he or she is a patient. Choose from a selection of get well, happy birthday, new baby, and holiday greetings. E-cards are printed in color and hand-delivered to hospital inpatients Monday through Friday by UPMC Mercy Volunteer Services.
Top
Smoking
To protect our patients, visitors, and staff from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, smoking is not permitted anywhere on UPMC property. All UPMC hospitals, facilities, and grounds, including parking lots and garages, are smoke-free. UPMC Mercy has no designated smoking areas. If you choose to smoke, you cannot do so on the UPMC Mercy campus. A patient who smokes does so against our advice and assumes the risk for any consequences.
Top