Coming Home from the Hospital in Southwest Florida — Your Complete Equipment Checklist

The call came. Your loved one is being discharged from Sarasota Memorial, Lee Health, NCH, Bayfront, or one of the other hospitals serving Southwest Florida — and they are coming home in 24 to 48 hours. The house is not set up. You do not know what equipment is needed. You are not sure what Medicare will cover. And you are running out of time.

This guide is written for exactly that moment. We are going to tell you what to ask the hospital, what equipment to have ready before discharge, what we can deliver same-day or next-day across Southwest Florida, and how to call us right now to get it handled.

Medical Department Store — five locations across Southwest Florida. Venice · Sarasota · Port Charlotte · Fort Myers · Naples. We deliver and set up home medical equipment across the entire region. Call 866-218-0902 right now if discharge is imminent — do not wait.

Why the Next 48 Hours Are the Most Important

Hospitals in Southwest Florida discharge patients when they are medically stable — not when they are fully healed or fully capable of managing at home. That gap between stable enough to leave and truly ready to be home is where most falls, complications, and readmissions happen. The first 72 hours at home are statistically the most dangerous period of a patient's recovery.

The equipment in the house before the patient walks through the door is not a luxury — it is a safety system. A hospital bed that adjusts to the right height. Grab bars anchored to studs. A rollator that fits the hallway. A bedside commode for the first nights when walking to the bathroom at 2AM is too risky. These items need to be in place before arrival — not ordered the morning after a fall.

We have seen every version of this situation across our five Southwest Florida locations. The families who call us before discharge go home prepared. The families who wait are often calling us from the emergency room a week later. Please call before.

Step One — Ask These Questions Before Leaving the Hospital

Before discharge from Sarasota Memorial, Lee Memorial, Gulf Coast Medical Center, NCH, Bayfront Health, or any other SW Florida hospital — get answers to these questions from the discharge planner, social worker, or nursing staff. Write them down.

• What equipment will they need at home? Ask specifically — walker, rollator, wheelchair, hospital bed, bedside commode, shower chair, grab bars, oxygen, patient lift? Get a written list.
• Can they bear weight on both legs? This determines whether a rollator is sufficient or a patient lift is needed for transfers.
• What level of assistance is needed for transfers? One person? Two people? Mechanical lift?
• What are the weight-bearing restrictions? Non-weight-bearing, partial, or full? This changes everything about appropriate equipment.
• Are there stair restrictions? If stairs are at home and the patient cannot use them, this needs a plan before discharge day.
• Is home health being ordered? Physical therapy, occupational therapy, or skilled nursing? They will do a home safety eval — but the equipment still needs to be there first.
• What is the oxygen prescription? Get the flow rate, hours per day, and whether pulse dose or continuous flow is required.
• What does Medicare or insurance cover? Ask the hospital social worker. We also verify coverage — call us before purchasing anything.

The SW Florida Hospital Discharge Equipment Checklist

Room by Room — What Needs to Be Ready

The Bedroom

The bed must be at the right height — feet flat on the floor, knees at roughly 90 degrees when seated on the edge. If the current bed is too low or too high, a hospital bed solves this entirely and adds independent head and foot adjustment critical for post-surgical recovery. Clear every obstacle between the bed and the bathroom. Add a nightlight on that path. A bedside commode next to the bed eliminates the most dangerous trip of the night for the first week home.

The Bathroom

The most dangerous room in the house for anyone returning from a hospital stay. Grab bars must be anchored into studs before the patient uses the bathroom — a towel bar will pull out of the wall under load. A shower chair or transfer bench allows bathing without standing. A raised toilet seat with armrests removes the hardest physical moment of the day for someone with hip, knee, or generalized weakness.

The Living Room

Remove all throw rugs immediately — no exceptions. Arrange furniture so there is a clear wide path for a walker or rollator. If the patient's primary chair is low and difficult to stand from, a lift chair should be in place at or immediately after discharge. A person struggling to stand from a low sofa dozens of times a day is a fall waiting to happen.

The Entry and Stairs

Handrails on both sides of any exterior steps is the minimum. If there are interior stairs the patient cannot safely use, call us about a Harmar stairlift — we are an authorized installer with a local team across SW Florida and can schedule an assessment quickly for urgent situations.

Specific Discharge Situations

Hip Replacement

Hip precaution restrictions — no bending past 90 degrees, no crossing legs — make standard home environments genuinely dangerous without modification. You need a raised toilet seat of at least 3–4 inches to keep the hip above the knee, anchored grab bars, a shower chair, a long-handled reacher to avoid bending, and a bed at proper height. A lift chair is strongly recommended. Call us before discharge — this is one of the most common and most preventable post-surgical fall scenarios we see.

Knee Replacement

Primary needs: raised toilet seat, grab bars, a stable chair that is easy to stand from, and a rollator for walking support. Ice and elevation will be constant for the first weeks — a reclining lift chair handles both and becomes the patient's command center for recovery.

Stroke Recovery

Needs vary widely depending on function remaining. For one-sided weakness: grab bars on the stronger side, a rollator or quad cane depending on walking ability, shower chair, and possibly a hospital bed for positioning. For more significant deficits: a power wheelchair or patient lift may be necessary. Our RESNA-certified mobility specialist can help assess what is appropriate. Call us.

Heart or Respiratory Discharge

If oxygen is being prescribed, get the exact prescription before leaving — flow rate, hours per day, pulse dose or continuous flow. We have Respiratory Therapists on staff who can match the right portable concentrator to the prescription. Bring the paperwork to any of our five showrooms or call ahead.

Non-Weight-Bearing Discharge

If the patient cannot put any weight on one or both legs, a caregiver cannot safely transfer them without a mechanical patient lift. Attempting to manually lift a non-weight-bearing adult is one of the leading causes of caregiver back injury. We carry electric patient lifts for same-day or next-day delivery. Call 866-218-0902 immediately.

We Know Your SW Florida Hospitals

We serve families being discharged from every major hospital in the region. If your loved one is coming home from any of the following — we can have equipment there before they arrive:

• Sarasota Memorial Hospital — Sarasota and Venice campuses. Our Sarasota showroom at 3672 Webber St and Venice showroom at 1180 Jacaranda Blvd are close by.
• Venice Regional Bayfront Health — Venice showroom minutes away.
• Englewood Community Hospital — Served by our Venice and Port Charlotte locations.
• ShorePoint Health Port Charlotte / Bayfront Health Port Charlotte — Our Port Charlotte showroom at 4265 Tamiami Trail is local.
• Lee Memorial Hospital and Gulf Coast Medical Center, Fort Myers — Our Fort Myers showroom at 8595 College Pkwy serves Lee Health patients across the county.
• Cape Coral Hospital — Fort Myers showroom covers Cape Coral deliveries.
• NCH Baker Hospital and NCH North Collier, Naples — Our Naples showroom at 13030 Livingston Rd serves all of Collier County.
• Physicians Regional, Naples — Naples showroom.

A Note for Snowbird Families

We regularly set up equipment for seasonal residents being discharged from SW Florida hospitals. If your parent is a snowbird discharged here and needs equipment for their winter residence — call us with the discharge date and address and we will have everything set up and waiting. At the end of the season, we also offer short-term rentals so you are not shipping a hospital bed back north.

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast can you deliver?

Same-day delivery is available for most items across Southwest Florida — call as early as possible. Next-day is standard for orders placed by early afternoon. For urgent discharges, call 866-218-0902 immediately and tell us the discharge date.

Do you set everything up?

Yes — hospital beds assembled, rails installed, height set, shower chair positioned, rollator adjusted — all done before the patient walks through the door. Setup is standard, not an upgrade.

The hospital is ordering the equipment — do we still need to call you?

Sometimes yes. Hospital DME order timelines are not always reliable. If you want to guarantee equipment is there before the patient arrives, call us directly. We can often move faster and will confirm delivery before discharge day.

What if we only need equipment for a few weeks?

We offer short-term rentals on hospital beds, wheelchairs, and select other items. Call your nearest location for availability.

Patient lifts  |  Hospital beds  |  Lift chairs  |  Rollators  |  Portable oxygen  |  Wheelchairs  |  Find your nearest location