Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Rights: Community Health Services (CHS) has a mission and a vision that includes providing access to comprehensive and quality healthcare to our community. We are committed to providing professional, affordable care with compassion that involves our patients and their families. Knowing your rights and responsibilities as a patient is an important part of this involvement.

As a patient at CHS, your rights include the following:

• The right to respectful and considerate care, regardless of your age, race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, immigration status or ability to pay for services.
• The right to timely, high quality health care from clinicians who are experienced and trained to meet your healthcare needs.
• The right to have your personal and medical information and records treated confidentially and to be able to approve or refuse the release of information to a third party, except as required by law.
• The right to information in your medical record.
• The right to participate in your care, including decisions about procedures, treatment or research.
• The right to obtain another medical/dental opinion prior to any procedure.
• The right to an explanation of your diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in terms you can understand.
• The right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law, and to be informed of the medical consequences of your decision.
• The right to know the name and the role of all CHS staff providing care to you. You may request information about your providers’ education and experience.
• The right to know how to access care after hours.
• The right to receive an itemized copy of your account upon request and to be informed of your eligibility for free care, reduced cost care, or third party reimbursement.
• The right to have your personal privacy respected by all CHS staff.
• The right to express a safety or quality concern about any aspect of your care at CHS. The reporting will in no way negatively impact current or future care. To address concerns, please speak to an Eligibility Specialist or Contact Director of Grants and Outreach at 860-808-8748. If you would like to make a grievance to an outside agency, you may contact the following: