Wayne UNC Health Care Surgery Center

Minor children and adults who cannot understand and sign their own consent should have a guardian, power of attorney or next of kin with them the morning of their surgery. This person will be responsible for signing the consent for surgery and administration of anesthesia.

When you receive sedation medications or general anesthesia for a procedure, you must make arrangements to have a responsible adult take you home and stay with you for 24 hours following your procedure. If you have to take a taxi or a bus, you will still need a responsible adult to be with you and stay with you after your procedure. If you do not have someone who can remain with you after surgery, please let your surgeon know so you can discuss options before your procedure.

Usually patients come in two hours before their surgery time to allow time for registration, nursing admission, assessment by the anesthesia team and a preop visit by the surgeon. Procedure lengths depend on the procedure you’re having. If your surgeon tells you how long the procedure will take, please keep in mind there will be some time before and after surgery that the anesthesia team will also be providing care. After surgery you will go to our recovery area. Most patients are recovered for about two hours before they are discharged. If you are going to be admitted after your procedure, you will remain in the Surgery Center for about 45 minutes before going to your inpatient room.

Often our surgeons prescribe pain medications and/or antibiotics following surgery. For your convenience, our Ready Meds program can fill and deliver your medications to you before you leave the hospital.

We ask that all children receiving surgery have a parent or guardian present at all times throughout the child’s care. To help your child’s healing and recovery, we request that you limit visitors to two parents or guardians who can stay with the child before surgery and then in the waiting room during surgery. After surgery, parents or guardians can come to the patient room.

Please park in Lot C and enter at the patient entrance beside the Emergency Department entrance.

Please call our Financial Counselors to discuss insurance authorizations, deductibles and copays. A teammate from our Financial Services team will contact you before your surgery date to complete the pre-registration process and update your contact and insurance information.

Yes. For your safety, we ask that you please remove all piercings, and leave jewelry at home. If you have a piercing or dermal impact you can’t remove, our team will ask you to sign an additional consent to make sure you understand the risk. Please do not wear perfumes, lotions, nail polish or deodorant on the surgical side, if you’re having a masectomy, shoulder, arm or hand surgery.

Please wear loose-fitting clothes that are easy to remove and put back on, such as elastic waist pants and a loose shirt. If you’re having surgery on your arms, neck or check, we recommend wearing a button up shirt.

Yes, you can bring your service animal, but for the safety and health of patients, we do not allow pets or emotional support animals. Please make arrangements for a family member or visitor to care for the animal during your surgery.

Please give personal items, like glasses, hearing aids, wallets, cell phones or other valuables to a family member or visitor who is accompanying you on the day of your surgery.

You can bring up to two visitors, who can remain in your room before and after surgery. Additional visitors can remain in the waiting room but may be limited due to available space. To support a safe, healing environment for our patients, we recommend that you don’t bring small children and that any visitors are free of flu or cold symptoms. Please make sure any visiting children are accompanied by an adult at all times.

Please bring a photo ID and insurance card; cash, check or credit card for payment; and an up-to-date medication list with frequency and dosage.

Yes. You can also brush your teeth and use mouthwash, but please make sure you do not swallow any water, toothpaste or mouthwash.

If your provider has asked you to take your morning medications before surgery, please only take them with small sips of water. Please follow your surgeon’s instructions on which medications you need to stop before your surgery. Please tell your surgeon and cardiologist if you are on blood thinners and ask them when to stop taking them before your surgery. If you are on any other medications, a nurse from the hospital will contact you to let you know which medications to take the morning of your surgery.

Please follow any special diet provided by your surgeon. If your surgeon hasn’t provided a special diet, our team asks that you not eat or drink anything after midnight before your surgery. Please do not eat candy or chew gum before your surgery, because it can increase your saliva production. If you have an infant scheduled for surgery, our team will review formula or breast milk feeding timelines with you, based on your anesthesiologist’s recommendations.