What is a call room?

Programs who always have residents or fellows assigned to overnight call at the hospital after a day of in-house duty are provided call rooms.  Each room has a telephone and private (lockable) bathroom with shower, sink, and toilet. Call rooms are limited and not all programs have a call room.  GME manages a small number of previously assigned rooms for certain programs.  If you are taking call for a program with a call room, the program will notify you of its location and how to access the room(s).

Call rooms must be vacated by 8:00 am to allow housekeeping to clean the rooms.  Call rooms are not to be used once housekeeping has cleaned the rooms.  Residents found to be using call rooms during the day will receive a warning and may face subsequent adverse academic action.

What is a sleep room?

Sleep rooms are temporary lodging quarters for residents who are on-call from home or who become too tired to drive home.  Methodist has a limited number of sleep rooms.  Each sleep room has one or two beds, nightstands, and lamps as well as a telephone and private (lockable) bathroom with shower, sink, and toilet.  If there are two beds in a sleep room, the sleep room is assigned by gender.  Rooms are assigned by the Call Center (Dunn 202). 

What happens if the Call Center “runs out” of sleep rooms for assignment?

If all sleep rooms are assigned, the Call Center (Dunn 202) works with the Bed Assignment Administrator to find space for trainees who need a sleep room. 

Please DO NOT sleep in patient care areas, the Crain Garden, or the library.  Go to the Call Center and ask for a sleep room.  If the Call Center assigns you to an open patient room, you must vacate the room by 6:00 am, which is earlier than the 7:30 am check-out time for the “regular” sleep rooms.

Where does a trainee go to be assigned a sleep room?

Residents and fellows should go to the Call Center, located in Dunn 202 (on the same corridor leading to the Telecommunications Center) after 9:00 pm.  The Call Center is operated 24 hours, 7 days a week.  Residents must present their Methodist ID badge to be eligible for a sleep room assignment.  The Call Center cannot verify a resident without his/her badge.  For residents who are rotating to Methodist from other institutions, their Methodist ID badge also indicates their primary institution.  Rotating residents will not be issued a sleep room without a Methodist ID badge.

How long can a resident use a sleep room?

A resident may not be assigned a sleep room before 9:00 pm. The resident may stay in the sleep room until 8:00 am. The sleep room must be vacated no later than 8:00 am in order for housekeeping to clean the room.

Because housekeeping and other residents/fellows may be accessing these rooms, Protected Health Information (PHI) must not be left unsecured in the call rooms, sleep rooms or the common area.

A locked bin is located in the common area for disposing of any PHI.

The following policies, found on Policy Tech, apply to PHI: BP07, HR12, IM22. Houston Methodist and its employees are subject to criminal penalties for failure to abide by HIPAA policies. There may be civil fines for failure to comply with requirements or standards. Penalties for wrongful or intentional disclosure of PHI include criminal fines and imprisonment. Fines range from $100/violation ($25,000 per year cap) to $50,000/violation ($1,500,000 per year cap). Individuals may be subject to criminal enforcement under HIPAA for wrongfully obtaining or disclosing PHI.

For more information or questions about the Houston Methodist call room system, please contact:

Phillip Stewart, EdD, MBA
Director, Graduate Medical Education

Houston Methodist Hospital

713.441.4967