Discharge Information
Planning for your care needs
Planning to leave the hospital begins soon after admission. A member of your health-care team will speak with you about an estimated discharge date. This date is based on the expected time required to address your medical and care needs by the hospital program.
Preparing for discharge to your home or to another facility can feel confusing and overwhelming, especially at the beginning of your care journey. Your health-care team will work with you, your family and care partners to provide the best plan possible for your smooth transition from the hospital.
After you are admitted to the hospital, your health-care team will work with you to set care goals and plan for the day when you will leave the hospital. This is called your day of discharge.
Discharge conversations start soon after your admission. Your health-care team will share an estimated discharge date. This is when they expect you to go home. It helps you, your family and care partners plan ahead and explore your options. Your health-care team can arrange follow-up care for you after you leave, if appropriate.
Sometimes, you may need to be moved to another unit, site or hospital within Sinai Health. This depends on your needs and where you can best receive the care you require.
Your health-care team will inform you of any possible transfers. Transfers may occur without much notice. No matter which unit, site or hospital you are transferred to, the health-care team will always help you prepare to leave the hospital.
Supporting your return home is a priority. We will work with you and your care partners on a discharge plan. This plan helps you return to the place you lived before coming to the hospital. This is called the Home First approach. Ontario Health (the provincial agency that oversees the health-care system) and Sinai Health have long made Home First a priority to lower patients' risk of infection, loss of function or harm from an unnecessary long hospital stay.
If you need care at home, Ontario Health atHome (the provincial agency that coordinates home and community care services) may meet with you while you are still in the hospital or contact you when you return home, depending on your needs. They will discuss your care needs and available community resources. Ask your health-care team for more information.
Once you know your anticipated day of discharge, it is expected that you participate in planning. You or your care partner must arrange your own transportation home. If you need help, ask your health-care team for a list of phone numbers for travel options, such as an ambulance, a taxi or a wheelchair-accessible taxi.
Note: The hospital does not pay for your transportation to leave the hospital.
If your needs cannot be met at home, your health-care team will explore options suitable to your care needs to support your return to the community.
If you are eligible to transfer to another care site, your health-care team will help with your application and transfer.
The hospital and Ontario Health encourage the Home First approach. If you are eligible for long-term care, the hospital will connect you with Ontario Health atHome (the provincial agency that coordinates home and community care services). They will discuss the process of applying to long-term care from home with you.
Many patients return home from hospital and continue to work on their long-term care application. The Ontario Health atHome care coordinator can review options to support a return home to further discuss long-term care.
Hospitals are not designed for long-term stays. Patients who stay longer than needed can face real risks, including infections and physical decline. That is why we work to connect you with the right supports as quickly as possible. There is evidence that you could be at risk for physical and cognitive decline while you wait in the hospital without the sufficient social and recreational engagement that can be found at home, in the community and in long-term care.
There are a number of alternative care environments in the community called Transitional Care Units (TCUs) and Reintegration Units (RIUs) where patients who cannot return home to wait for long-term care can go to wait. These options must be explored and patients whose care needs can be met at these locations are expected to transfer there. Waiting in hospital for long-term care is on an exceptional basis only, when all other options, including alternate locations, have been explored and deemed not appropriate.
If you choose not to leave hospital on your discharge date or decline a transfer to an appropriate care setting, provincial law may require the hospital to charge a $400-per-day fee.
Speak with any member of your health-care team. They are here to support you.
For more information on topics related to your discharge, please visit these websites:
- Apply for long-term care: A Government of Ontario webpage on who qualifies for long-term care homes and how to apply.
- Hospital chronic care co-payment: A Government of Ontario webpage on when a daily co-payment for hospital chronic care may apply and how it is calculated.
- Operational Direction: Home First: An Ontario Health resource that explains the Home First approach to help patients return home from the hospital with the right supports.
- Ontario Regulation 486/22 under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021: A Government of Ontario regulation that sets out rules for long-term care homes, including admission, care and resident rights.
- What OHIP covers: A Government of Ontario webpage that describes the hospital services paid for by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).