June 24, 20020
From St James Hospital:
The state Department of Health (DOH) has issued guidance to allow hospitals to resume limited visitation. As of June 25 at 10am, UR Medicine/St. James Hospital will partially lift its inpatient visitor restrictions, under the direction of the DOH and UR Medicine that includes a limited number of visitors and rigorous screening and safety protocols.
“We know that not being able to visit hospitalized loved ones has been difficult for patients and families and we are eager to let people visit in person,” said Bilal Ahmed, M.D., St. James Hospital chief medical officer. “We now have clearance to restore limited visitation, with stringent safety precautions to keep the risk of infections low as more people enter the hospital.”
In accordance with NYS Department of Health guidelines, St. James Hospital is implementing stringent safety precautions to keep the risk of infections low as more people enter the hospital.
Visitation for Inpatients: Each hospitalized patient will be able to designate 2 individuals 18 years of age or older who will be allowed to visit. Only one person will be permitted to visit per day, for up to 4 consecutive hours anytime from 10am to 4pm. Individuals over 70 years of age are discouraged.
Exceptions:
• Pediatric Patients – 2 guardians can be designated, however, only one parent may be present at a time with no time limitations. Parents are permitted to switch as needed throughout the hospitalization.
• Patients for whom a support person is deemed essential to care – for patients with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, and patients with cognitive impairments including dementia, 1 support person may be identified and present with no time limitations.
• End-of-Life Patients – Patients in imminent end-of-life may have 2 individuals visit the patient together.
• Patients hospitalized with COVID – No COVID-19-positive patients may have visitors unless they meet one of the other outlined exceptions.
Visitation for Surgical Patients: One visitor is allowed for pre-op check-in and at discharge. Exceptions include patients for whom a support person is deemed essential to care due to intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, cognitive impairments including dementia, and any patients facing imminent end of life.
Visitation for Emergency Department Patients: The current ‘No visitors’ policy in the Emergency Department will stay in effect due to safety precautions. ED space does not allow for necessary social distancing if visitors are present. Exceptions to this policy in ED include patients for whom a support person is deemed essential to care due to intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, cognitive impairments including dementia, and any patients facing imminent end of life.
For the safety of patients, staff and visitors, all visitors will be expected to adhere to the following guidelines:
• Screening Process – Upon arrival to the hospital, all visitors and support persons will be screened in the lobby and then have their temperature taken upon arrival to the inpatient unit. If at any point an individual is identified to have symptoms, they will be asked to leave the hospital unless their loved one’s death is imminent.
• Masking – All visitors and support persons are to be masked throughout the hospital and asked to remain masked in the room during their visit.
• Remain with Your Loved One – To minimize exposure for everyone, visitors and support persons MUST stay with their patient continually and are not to leave the patient’s room. Please note –
this includes leaving to smoke.
• Leaving the Hospital – When visitors and support persons leave to go home, we expect that he or she will continue to consistently observe masking, social distancing and handwashing hygiene.
“We want people to rest assured that we will continue providing your loved one with compassionate, patient-centered care at all times, and recommend utilizing technology to keep in touch with family and friends who cannot visit,” said Dr. Ahmed. “Our visitation guidelines will be revisited routinely, and may change at any time based on the current risk surrounding the spread of COVID-19.”
A summary of the visitation restrictions can be found at www.urmc.rochester.edu/st-james/visitor-restrictions.
