Frequently Asked Questions

We encourage you to pre-register before the seventh month of pregnancy. Pre-registration can be completed online or in person by picking up a form to fill out at the security desk located in the lobby of the Patient Pavilion at St. Joseph's Medical Center. Your identification and insurance cards will be required.

Notify your physician immediately and go to the hospital.

Parking is available in the underground parking garage on Maple Street from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The cost for parking is $5 per vehicle, per day. Anyone with a handicapped placard can access our parking lots at no charge.

Parking is also available on the corner of Maple and Cemetery Lane across from the Emergency room, the lot is open 24 hours. The cost for parking is $3.00 per vehicle, per day. Anyone with a handicapped placard can access our parking lots at no charge. 

The Emergency Department parking lot on Maple Street is reserved only for patients seeking emergency medical assistance.

Parking is free once your baby is born. Be sure to let the parking attendant know.

Our Family Birth Center is located on the first floor of the Patient Pavilion on the corner of California Street and Maple Street.

Check in at the Security Desk in the Patient Pavilion. They will grant you access to our locked unit where you will be greeted by our registration clerks.

Before you and your newborn return home you will receive personalized discharge information. We will provide educational materials on important topics such as breastfeeding, infant care, self-care, and parenting. Your nurse will review and discuss them with you before you go home.

Insurance plans vary greatly for maternity coverage. Please contact your insurance carrier for information on your coverage for the expected hospital stay for a vaginal or cesarean birth, epidural anesthesia, routine newborn nursery charges, circumcisions, postpartum, and newborn home care.

Most insurance policies require that newborns must to be added within 30 days of delivery.  Please contact your employer’s Human Resources department or your insurance plan as soon as possible.

St. Joseph’s Medical Center offers patients and hospital visitors free wifi.

St. Joseph’s Medical Center is a tobacco-free campus. The tobacco-free policy applies to all employees, medical staff, patients, and visitors. Tobacco is not permitted on any part of the hospital campus. 

An advance directive is an individual’s written instruction concerning the provision of health care when he/she is not able to make such decisions. It may be a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, a Declaration to a Physician Pursuant to the California Natural Death Act, or a living will. St. Joseph’s Medical Center will document in the individual's medical record whether or not an advance directive has been executed and shall include a copy of the advance directive in the medical record upon receipt of such a directive. A person who executes an advance directive can revoke it at any time.

For more information, call admitting at (209) 467-6470.

Visiting hours are 12p.m.-7pm. At this time, a mom can have one full time support person who is not subject to visiting hour times and a second support person (does not have to be the same person the entire time) who can only come between the hours of 12pm-7pm.

The best time to find a pediatrician for your baby is before they are born.

After birth, call your pediatrician to schedule your newborn’s first visit. This first visit usually takes place 24 to 48 hours after your baby is discharged from the hospital.