Grievance + Complaint Process

If you have a grievance or a complaint to file, we have a process available to you. 

The purpose of this process is to improve the quality of care and service to our customers. If you have an immediate concern, you are encouraged to communicate this to any of the following:

  • The person providing you with the service
  • The department manager of the service involved or the nursing supervisor
  • The Quality Management Department, 802-888-8351;
  • Write to Quality Management, Copley Hospital, 528 Washington Highway, Morrisville, VT 05661

The Quality Management Department will acknowledge with a phone call if necessary and in writing all complaints within five working days from the time of receipt in the Department. The written acknowledgment will describe the hospital’s complaint and appeal procedures. If the complaint is one of billing only, the Business Office will investigate and respond to the complaint.

Downloadable Resources

Copley’s HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

If you feel it is necessary to discuss your problem with someone outside the hospital, you may contact any of the following:

Department of Disability, Aging and Independent Living

Division of Licensing and Protection
HC 2 South
280 State Drive
Waterbury, VT 05671-2060
(toll free) 1-888-700-5330
AHS.DAILSCIntake@vermont.gov

Vermont Department of Health

PO Box 70
108 Cherry St.
Burlington, VT 05402-0070
(toll free) 1-800-464-4343, fax 1-802-865-7754

Vermont Board of Medical Practice

PO Box 79
108 Cherry St. PO Box 70
Burlington, VT 05402
AHS.VDHMedicalBoard@vermont.gov
(toll free) 1-800-745-7371, 1-802-657-4220, fax 1-802-657-4227

For Privacy Complaints

Contact

Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services
(for privacy concerns)

200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC  20201
877-696-6775

The above is based on Copley Hospital’s Patient Rights and Responsibilities Policy, informed by the Vermont Statue’s Patients Bill of Rights, 18 V.S.A. §1852.

You may request a copy of the policy by contacting: Privacy Officer, Health Information Management, Copley Hospital, 528 Washington Highway, Morrisville, VT 05661.

You are entitled to these rights regardless of sex, race, cultural, economic, educational or religious background or the source of payment for your health care.

All your rights as a health care consumer also apply to the person who may have legal responsibility to make decisions regarding your health care.

As a Medicare Beneficiary You Have Certain Guaranteed Rights

These rights protect you when you get health care; they assure you access to needed health care services; and they protect you against unethical practices. You have these Medicare rights whether you are in the Original Medicare Plan or another Medicare health plan. The rights include:

  • The right to protection from discrimination in marketing and enrollment practices.
  • The right to information about what is covered and how much you have to pay.
  • The right to information about all treatment options available to you.
  • The right to appeal decisions to deny or limit payment for medical care.
  • The right to know how your Medicare health plan pays its doctors.
  • The right to choose a women’s health specialist.
  • The right, if you have a complex or serious medical condition, to receive a treatment plan that includes direct access to a specialist.
  • The right to receive emergency care.

If you believe that any of your rights have been violated, you may call the State Division of Health Care Administration, Health Insurance Consumer Services. Their phone number is 1-800-631-7788. Copley will send patient satisfaction surveys to a sampling of patients and will respond to any significant complaints mentioned in survey responses. Presentation of a complaint will not compromise a patient’s future access to care nor the quality of care provided.

 

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Copley Hospital uses health information about you for treatment, to obtain payment for treatment, for administrative purposes, and to evaluate the quality of care you receive. Your health information is contained in a medical record that is the physical property of Copley Hospital.

We respect your right to privacy and make every effort to maintain confidentiality. According to the federal law named the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” (HIPAA), you have rights concerning the use of individually identifiable health information. Only individuals with a legitimate “need to know” may access, use or disclose patient information.