General News » Headline News » News

SMH easing visitor restrictions and moving to Phase 2 of visitor policy

February 24, 2022   ·   0 Comments

Stevenson Memorial Hospital has eased visitor restrictions at the hospital and has moved to Phase 2 of its visitor policy.

The policy went into effect on February 22.

“We are pleased to start to slowly ease visitor restrictions, as we know how important family members and loved ones are to our patients and how they enhance their experience in-hospital, but we are remaining cautious with the highly-transmissible Omicron variant still active in our community,” said Jody Levac, President and CEO of Stevenson Memorial Hospital. “We will continue to monitor the situation in our hospital and community, including positivity rates at our COVID-19 Assessment Centre and local outbreaks that may be occurring and will adjust our status on visitation if need be.”

The policy states:

Inpatients: In patients are permitted one designated visitor per day for one hour between the hours of 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Extenuating circumstances will be managed on a case-by-case basis. 

Surgical patients: One designated support person is permitted post-procedure to support the patient upon discharge.

Obstetrical patients: Patients in labour and delivery are permitted one support person.

No visitors are permitted for patients in the Emergency Department and Outpatient Clinics unless there are extenuating circumstances. These include, an ill newborn, youth or child age 19 years old and under. Patients with dementia or cognitive impairment, and palliative patients.

Families of patients eligible for visitation will be contacted by the Patient Experience Department. 

All visitors must provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination along with personal ID and are required to pass COVID-19 screening before visiting a patient.

No visiting will be permitted for any COVID-19 positive or suspected positive patients. 

Family members can contact the Patient Experience department to speak to a patient through technology such as iPads or tablets.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Readers Comments (0)