The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is loosening restrictions on patient visits at local hospitals.
Effective today, inpatients will be permitted one visitor per day who will be allowed to visit from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The visitor must check in to the nurses’ station prior to visiting.
A hospital-wide announcement will indicate when visiting hours are over.
Visiting outside of the specified visiting hours is permitted for patients who are designated by the clinical provider as actively dying or palliative. This exception must be approved by the care team first. Depending on the time of day, the care team will provide direction on which CKHA entrance to access.
Visiting restrictions remain in effect for COVID-19 positive patients in that there will be no visitors permitted to a confirmed COVID-19 positive patient, regardless of condition.
There are also some changes to other exceptions to CKHA’s visiting policy:
- An inpatient who is actively dying, as determined by the clinical provider, may have no more than two visitorspresent at a time.
- An inpatient who is considered palliative, as determined by the clinical provider, may have one visitorpresent at a time.
- Inpatients or outpatients who require significant support whose absence may negatively impact the provision of safe care, at the direction of the clinical provider/team, may be accompanied by one support person.
- Pediatric patients may be accompanied by one adult visitor.
- Women in active labour/post-partum may be accompanied by one adult visitor.
- In the Emergency Department (ED):
- A patient who is at imminent risk of dying may have a loved one present with them during their ED stay.
- Patients with cognitive or mobility difficulties may be accompanied by one person during their ED stay.
- Pediatric patients in the ED are permitted to be accompanied by one adult.
As is the current practice, visitors will be screened at the main entrance at the Chatham site and Emergency Department entrance at the Wallaceburg site and if they fail screening, they will be denied entry into the hospital.
No Children under the age of 18 are permitted to visit.
All visitors must wear a mask and/or additional Personal Protective Equipment as required, practice frequent hand washing and will be restricted to visitation in the patient’s room with no access to any common areas including the cafeteria or Tim Horton’s.
Out of an abundance of caution, CKHA asks that if you have a loved one in hospital and will be visiting daily/frequently, to try to limit your movement throughout the community as much as possible to avoid the potential spread of illness.
If a patient or loved one/advocate wishes to appeal the visitation policy, they should discuss with the care team.
CHKA officials said alliance personnel continue to review the Visitor Restrictions policy implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the low prevalence of COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent and feedback from patients, families, staff and physicians, CKHA is taking a careful, staged approach to relaxing visitor/family presence restrictions, according to officials.
The health and safety of everyone will continue to be priority with each phase carefully monitored over time. As the pandemic evolves, CKHA officials said the hospital will determine if it is necessary to change course, at any time, to maintain the safety of staff, patients and the community.
