How to Send Flowers to a Hospital in Chicago: A Simple Guide
Flowers are one of the kindest ways to say get well soon when you can’t be there in person. But hospitals have their own rules, and a few small details decide whether your bouquet reaches the patient’s room or waits at the front desk. Here is what we have learned from delivering flowers to Chicago hospitals every week from our shop on Foster Avenue.
1. Check that the unit accepts flowers
Most hospital rooms are fine, but some units do not allow fresh flowers at all: usually intensive care, oncology and some children’s units. If you are not sure, call the hospital’s main number and ask. If flowers are not allowed, you can send them to the patient’s home for the day they come back.
2. Write the patient’s full name and room number
At checkout, enter the hospital address and add the patient’s full name in the order notes. If you know the room number, add it too — it makes delivery much faster. Large hospitals like Northwestern Memorial receive many deliveries a day, and the room number helps staff bring your flowers up right away.
3. Choose a vase arrangement
Nurses are busy and patients can’t go looking for a vase. A ready arrangement in a vase, or a bouquet in a water box, can simply be placed on the table. Choose a small or medium size: hospital rooms and bedside tables are small.
4. Pick light, fresh scents
Strong-smelling flowers like some lilies can be too much in a small room, especially for someone who feels unwell or shares the room. Roses, tulips in season, carnations, alstroemeria, hydrangea and chrysanthemums are gentle and last a long time. Bright colors — yellow, pink, orange — lift the mood.
5. Keep the card message short and warm
A few words are enough: “Thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery”, “Get well soon — we miss you!” or “Sending love and strength.” We write every card by hand.
Chicago hospitals we deliver to the same day
Order by 6 PM and we deliver the same day. Some of the hospitals we deliver to most often:
- Swedish Hospital — just over half a mile from our shop
- Weiss Memorial Hospital
- Thorek Memorial Hospital
- Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
- Ascension Saint Joseph
- Ascension Resurrection
- Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Evanston Hospital and Skokie Hospital
- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Don’t see your hospital? We deliver to every hospital in Chicago and the nearby suburbs. See all hospital deliveries or shop get-well bouquets.