A hospital health unit coordinator runs the nurses' station: phones, call lights, admissions and discharges in the EHR, and the paperwork that goes with a transfer. Where the emergency room and the inpatient floor share staff, one coordinator may cover both, so the nurses can stay with patients.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a health unit coordinator to run the nurses' station for our inpatient unit and emergency department. You'll answer phones and call lights, keep admissions, discharges and transfers current in [your EHR], put together transfer packets, and keep providers, nurses, families and other departments connected so nurses can stay with patients.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Enter admissions, discharges, transfers and bed assignments in [your EHR], and keep the unit census accurate.
Copy records, images and transfer forms for patients going to a tertiary center, and log what was sent.
Scan outside records, consent forms and advance directives into the chart, and flag missing signatures.
Answer phones and call lights, page providers and on-call staff, and route calls to the right nurse.
Schedule follow-up appointments, outpatient tests and referrals at discharge.
Order unit supplies and forms, and keep printers and the nurses' station stocked.
Protect patient privacy at the desk and on the phone, following HIPAA.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check the census, pending admissions and planned discharges at the start of the shift.
Take calls from families, the lab, imaging and other hospitals, and pass on messages.
Call ambulance services for transfers when the nurse asks, and confirm pickup times.
Greet visitors and direct them to rooms, following visitor and isolation rules.
Update the census board and patient room whiteboards.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
ADT entries made on time: [your target].
Transfer packets complete on first send: [your target].
Phone answer time: [your target].
Chart scanning backlog: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent, plus medical terminology training or experience.
Accurate typing and comfort with [your EHR] or similar software.
Ability to handle several calls and requests at once and stay polite under pressure.
Discretion with patient information.
6. Preferred Experience
Certified Health Unit Coordinator (CHUC) from NAHUC.
[1+] years in a hospital, clinic or medical office.
CNA certification or patient care experience, for cross-coverage.
7. Physical Requirements
Sit at a desk and use a computer and phone for most of the shift.
Walk to patient rooms and other departments, and lift boxes of supplies up to [25] pounds.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
[8 or 12]-hour shifts: [days, evenings or both], with weekends on a rotation.
Busy nurses' station near patient rooms, with alarms, phones and visitors.
Cross-training to cover ED registration [if your hospital combines roles].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new health unit coordinator gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What sets the unit desk apart at a critical access hospital
Every unit coordinator answers phones and keeps the census right. In a 25-bed hospital that sends its sickest patients on to bigger ones, transfers, hometown callers and a desk shared with the ER shape the job.
Transfer packets follow a federal list
When the ER transfers a patient whose emergency isn't yet stable, EMTALA says the records on hand go too. That means the history, signs and symptoms, the preliminary diagnosis, test results, treatment given, and the signed consent or transfer certification. The packet also names any on-call doctor who refused or failed to come in. Results that come back later follow as soon as practicable. The coordinator copies, sends and logs the packet, then chases the late results. Source: eCFR: 42 CFR 489.24, EMTALA.
Callers who ask for a patient by name
Word travels fast in a small town, and the desk phone rings with it. HIPAA lets a hospital keep a patient directory. If someone asks for a patient by name, staff may give the room and a general condition with no medical details, unless the patient opted out. Religious affiliation goes only to clergy. The coordinator checks the opt-out flag before saying anything. Source: eCFR: 45 CFR 164.510, facility directories.
Advance directives go where staff can find them
Medicare requires hospitals, critical access hospitals included, to note in a prominent part of the current chart whether each adult patient has an advance directive. Families often bring a living will or a power of attorney from home. The coordinator scans it into the right section and flags it for the nurse. Questions about the form go to staff trained to answer them. Source: eCFR: 42 CFR 489.102, advance directives.
Follow-up care leaves with the patient
At discharge, the hospital must send the needed medical information to whoever handles follow-up care. The coordinator often books the clinic visit or outpatient test, sends the discharge papers to the clinic or home health agency, and logs what went where. One missed fax can mean a patient shows up at the clinic and the doctor has no records. Source: eCFR: 42 CFR 485.642, CAH discharge planning.
One desk for two departments
A small hospital may run its inpatient floor and emergency room from one station, or have one coordinator cover both on quiet shifts. The same person pages the on-call provider, calls the ambulance service when the nurse asks, takes lab and imaging callbacks and greets visitors. Ask in the interview how they decide what comes first when three things land at once.
How much hospital health unit coordinators make
The closest BLS group for hospital health unit coordinators is medical secretaries and administrative assistants. Medical secretaries and administrative assistants who work for general medical and surgical hospitals earned a median of $22.63 an hour ($47,070 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $45,930 median for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in all industries. About 221,430 of the 961,610 medical secretaries and administrative assistants in that survey work for general hospitals.
Hourly pay, with a differential for evening and weekend shifts. At some hospitals, a CHUC credential or cross-training to cover ER registration earns a higher step.
General hospitals
$47,070$47,070 median Middle half $39,750–$52,000 10th–90th $37,270–$61,850
All industries
$45,930$45,930 median Middle half $38,570–$50,580 10th–90th $35,930–$60,530
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
General hospitals
$37,270
$39,750
$47,070
$52,000
$61,850
All industries
$35,930
$38,570
$45,930
$50,580
$60,530
These figures cover general medical and surgical hospitals of every size. Rural hospitals often pay less than city hospitals. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Enters admissions and transfers without typos, checking name and birth date before each save
Stays polite with a worried family on one line and a provider waiting on another
Knows which questions belong to the nurse and passes them on
Keeps patient details off speakerphones and out of hallway talk
Medical terms and abbreviations, from a course or past work
Teach these on the job
Your EHR's ADT, census and document scanning screens
Inpatient, observation and swing bed statuses, and who needs to hear about a change
Your transfer packet checklist and how you send images
Paging, the on-call schedule and the ambulance services you use
What the directory lets you tell callers, and where the opt-out flag shows
The desk runs on the EHR's ADT and scanning screens, a scanner and fax, the phone system and overhead paging, the nurse call system and the census board. If images go out on disc or through an image exchange service, add that to the posting.
Hospital health unit coordinator interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Pick targets that fit your unit's volume and the staffing on each shift, and check them against a sample of real charts and calls.
ADT entries made on time
Compare when the patient actually moved, from the bed board or nursing notes, with the time stamp on the ADT entry. Spot-check a sample each week, by shift.
Transfer packets complete on first send
After each transfer, check the packet log against your checklist and note anything the receiving hospital asked for later. Count the packets that needed nothing more.
Phone answer time
Pull rings or seconds to answer from your phone system's reports, by shift and by line. Without reports, have the nurse manager spot-check at busy times.
Chart scanning backlog
Count the documents waiting to be scanned at the end of each shift, and how old the oldest one is. Outside records for current patients go first.
Is a health unit coordinator the same as a unit secretary?
Mostly, yes. Hospitals use unit secretary, unit clerk and ward clerk for the same desk job, and O*NET lists unit clerk and ward clerk as medical secretary titles. What changes is the scope. Some hospitals add ER registration, supply ordering or, for people with nurse aide training, simple patient care. Compare duties, not titles, when you read a resume.
How much does a hospital health unit coordinator make?
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants who work for general medical and surgical hospitals earned a median of $22.63 an hour ($47,070 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $39,750 and $52,000 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Does a health unit coordinator need to be certified?
The template asks for medical terminology training and lists the Certified Health Unit Coordinator (CHUC) credential as a plus. The NAHUC Certification Board grants it after an exam. Since January 1, 2026, the credential runs on a two-year cycle instead of three. People certified before then switch at their next renewal. The credential shows a candidate passed an exam on the job's core knowledge.
Can a health unit coordinator give patients copies of their chart?
Route the request instead. Patients have a federal right to see and get copies of their records, and the hospital generally must respond within 30 days. Sending it through medical records lets the hospital check identity and log what was released. The coordinator's part is to hand over the form and pass it on, not to print the chart at the desk.
Should a health unit coordinator cover ER registration?
It can, and the template allows for it. Train the coordinator with the patient access team on ID checks, consent forms and insurance cards. Teach the EMTALA rule too: questions about insurance or payment must never delay the medical screening exam. Decide who fixes registration errors. A coordinator registering a busy ER can't also answer the unit's call lights, so plan who covers the desk.
