If you need a private nurse or a companion to stay...

If you need a private nurse or a companion to stay with a patient at the Milstein Hospital at Columbia Presbyterian you are limited to one company, Access Nursing Services. My guess is that they may very likely have a monopoly on many of the hospitals in the New York metropolitan area. They aren t inexpensive. The cost of having a companion is $600! That seems pretty high but if you can sleep better at night knowing that a competent and empathetic person is sitting with your beloved family member or if you are in need of extra attention, it might be well worth the price. I m guess that that the companion is not getting most of that fee, I am hopeful that they are getting at least $250, but I don t know how that money is divided. We needed companions for 5 nights and for most of the days we had exceptional companions who called to let us know how the patient was doing at night and in the mornings. Part of the contract is to provide that kind of service. Access also has excellent customer service so if you have a problem, they want to help resolve any issues. Overall we were very satisfied.