Your Rights as a Patient in Illinois Hospitals

When you enter a hospital for treatment, you’re placing immense trust in your care team — and you deserve to be treated with respect, dignity, and transparency. Whether you’re undergoing surgery, recovering in the ICU, or visiting the ER, it’s essential to know your rights as a patient in Illinois.

Understanding your rights can help you make informed decisions, protect yourself from negligence, and hold healthcare providers accountable if something goes wrong.

The Illinois Patient Rights Act: What It Means for You

Illinois law protects hospital patients through the Illinois Hospital Licensing Act and Patient Rights Act, along with federal regulations such as the Patient Self-Determination Act and HIPAA.

These laws give you the right to:

• Receive safe, competent medical care

• Be treated with dignity and respect

• Understand your diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis

• Refuse or consent to treatment

• File complaints without retaliation

• Access your medical records

• Know who is treating you and what their roles are

• Make decisions about end-of-life care (e.g., advance directives, DNR orders)

Hospitals must also provide information in a language and format you can understand.

1. You Have the Right to Informed Consent

Before undergoing any procedure, surgery, or treatment, you have the legal right to informed consent. That means your healthcare provider must explain:

• Your diagnosis

• The recommended treatment

• Risks and side effects

• Alternative options

• What could happen if you decline treatment

You must give permission voluntarily, without pressure or manipulation. If you weren’t told about risks — or were treated without consent — you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim.

2. You Have the Right to Refuse Treatment

Even if doctors believe a treatment is necessary, you have the right to say no — unless you’re legally incapacitated or pose an immediate threat to yourself or others.

This includes refusing:

• Surgery or procedures

• Blood transfusions

• Medications

• Life support measures

Your decision must be respected, and alternative care options should be discussed.

3. You Have the Right to Know Who Is Treating You

You have the right to know:

• The names and roles of every provider involved in your care

• Whether you are being treated by a student, resident, or attending physician

• If your care is being supervised or delegated

• Who employs the provider — the hospital or an outside company [hospitals often conceal this information from patients]

This helps ensure accountability and transparency — especially in large hospital systems or teaching hospitals like those in Chicago.

4. You Have the Right to Access Your Medical Records

Under Illinois and federal law (HIPAA), you have the right to:

• Request copies of your complete medical records

• Review lab results, imaging reports, prescriptions, and provider notes

• Request corrections to inaccurate information

• Share your records with other providers or legal representatives

Hospitals must respond to your request within 30 days (or 60 with an explanation). Denying access without cause is a violation of your rights.

5. You Have the Right to Privacy and Confidentiality

All patient information must be kept confidential. This includes:

• Medical records

• Mental health treatment

• HIV/AIDS status

• Substance abuse treatment

Only those directly involved in your care or with your authorization can access your information. Breaches of privacy may be grounds for legal action.

6. You Have the Right to File a Complaint

If you feel your rights were violated or you were mistreated, you have the right to:

• File a complaint with the hospital’s patient advocate or risk management office

• Contact the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) or the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)

• Speak with an attorney about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in the circuit court

Hospitals are required to investigate complaints and may face penalties or license sanctions if violations are found.

7. You Have the Right to Emergency Medical Treatment

Under federal EMTALA law, all patients — regardless of insurance or ability to pay — have the right to:

• Be screened for emergency medical conditions

• Receive stabilization before transfer or discharge

• Be treated without discrimination

Hospitals that fail to evaluate or stabilize patients may be held liable for medical negligence or wrongful death.

What to Do If Your Rights Are Violated

If your hospital experience included:

• Being misled about treatment risks

• Receiving care without consent

• Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis

• Mistreatment, neglect, or discrimination

• Refused access to your records or care

You may have grounds for a legal claim. In Illinois, you typically have 2 years from the date you discovered the malpractice to file a lawsuit.

Protecting Your Rights With a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

At Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C., we’ve spent decades standing up for patients whose rights were ignored or violated. Whether you were injured by a surgical error, a delayed diagnosis, or hospital negligence, we’ll fight for justice and full compensation.

Our attorneys have recovered record-setting settlements and verdicts in Chicago and throughout Illinois, including:

• $41 million for stroke due to improper anticoagulant management

• $31 million for birth injury due to ER mismanagement

• $15 million for spinal cord injury during surgery

Contact a Patient Rights and Malpractice Lawyer in Chicago

You have the right to safe, respectful, and informed care. If that right was violated, let us help you hold negligent providers accountable.

Contact Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. today for a free consultation.

Serving clients in Chicago, Cook County, and throughout Illinois and across America.