What Do We Do If We Want to Stay at Ronald McDonald House®?
First, make sure that you and your family meet our eligibility criteria.
Your family:
- Must live outside of Jefferson County and have a permanent residence to which you can return.
- Must have a referral from the health care provider caring for your child.
Also, your child:
- Must be traveling to Birmingham for medical care at a Birmingham-area medical facility.
- Must be 18 years old or younger.
In addition,
You and your family:
- Must not present or have an infectious disease risk.
- Must be able to safely, from a health perspective, stay in a communal setting.
- Must not present behavioral or safety risks to others staying at the House. (For example, guests may not have a history of violence, child abuse, substance abuse or be the subject of a protective order, etc.)
- Be able to abide by all guest rules that support a safe and family-like atmosphere, including rules prohibiting food or beverages in guest rooms, alcohol or illegal use of drugs/substances and the prohibition against smoking in the building. Guest Information/Policies and Eligibility Requirements
- Must have arrangements for payment of the $15 key deposit and your $10 nightly room fee ($5 per night beginning on day 22 of any stay). You may pay with cash or check, at the time of check-in.
- Guests must be 18 years of age or older at all times during their stay. Guests under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent, legal spouse over the age of 18 or by another legal guardian. (For example, a 16 year old mother of a sick newborn must be accompanied by her parent or legal guardian throughout her stay at the House.) If an adult, other than a parent/legal guardian, (for example, an aunt, uncle, grandparent, sibling) will be staying at the House with any Guest under age 18, RMHCA must receive written permission from the legal guardian prior to the stay. This permission can be faxed to 205-212-7256.
RMHCA management reserves the right to make final determinations, at its sole discretion, about eligibility for initial, continued or repeat stays by any guest, as well as about room location and (re)assignment.
Bring Identification
You will be asked for identification when you check in. Please bring your driver’s license, State ID, or passport and Social Security Card or other comparable identification. (Note: We do not attempt to verify citizenship or visa status, but we do need to confirm the names and addresses of all guests.)
Ask Your Health Care Provider to Send Us a Completed Referral
All initial guest stays require a completed RMHCA referral form from the health care provider that will be treating your child. This referral can be faxed (205-212-7256) to us in advance of your stay. If your provider does not have an RMHCA referral form, they can call us at 205-212-7255 and we will fax a form to them.
Repeat guests must get a new referral completed no later than 12 months after the date of the previous referral form.
Do I Make a Reservation?
We generally do not take reservations in advance; however, we do put guests on a “waiting list” for the day of the expected check-in.
Once we receive your referral, please call us with your estimated check-in date.
One day prior to check-in, please call us to confirm your stay and schedule a check-in time.
Will You Hold My Room if I Don't Arrive at the Scheduled Check-in Time?
Although staff is available 24 hours a day for check-ins, we will only hold your room for two hours after your scheduled check-in time, unless you call and notify us that you will be late. Because there are often families waiting for rooms, if you have not arrived or called within two hours of the scheduled check-in time, we may give the room to another waiting family.
Will We Be Allowed to Check In If The Ronald McDonald House Has Not Received a Valid Referral?
No. All first time guests and all returning guests whose last referral was completed more than 12 months prior must have a valid referral.
In the case of an emergency transfer to Birmingham, ask the operator to page the social worker on call for the facility to which your child is being transferred. We will try to work with this medical provider to complete an emergency referral.
What If My Child or a Family Member Has Special Needs?
In deciding if the Ronald McDonald House is right for you and your family, please note that RMHCA does not provide medical or social services and there are no medical personnel on staff in the building. Also, the building does not have back-up generator services to operate medical equipment.
Please contact the staff if you have concerns about special needs.