Hospitals ease pandemic visitor rules
Hospitals in 11 counties throughout region allowing more visitors.
More visitors will be allowed into Dayton-area hospitals, though under limited circumstances and with new mask requirements.
Visitors have been restricted for the last two months by the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association to just end-of-life visiting and for one support person for women giving birth.
Starting today, the association’s member hospitals in its 11-county service area — in Auglaize, Butler, Darke, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Shelby, and Warren counties — will allow more patients to have one support person visit in the building per day “provided that adequate
social distancing policies can be met.”
There will be no visitors for outpatient testing, such as noninvasive radiology testing, routine x-rays, and lab studies. Anyone under the age of 18 also will not be permitted to visit unless they are the parent or legal guardian of a child who is a patient.
Exceptions can apply for end-of-life situations.
For maternity patients, one additional support person, such as a doula, will be permitted.
For minor maternity patients, a parent or guardian will also be permitted. Children may have two visitors in the emergency department and inpatient setting, but this is limited to only par- ents or guardians;
Babies in the NICU can have two visitors for the duration of the patient’s stay with one visitor allowed at a time.
Patients who require assistance due to mobility, reorienting/confusion (patient safety), interpretation, court-ordered, or health care decision making may have one additional assistance person.
“As our region continues to gain a stronger understand- ing of COVID-19 and how we can best prevent spread in our community, GDAHA’s member hospitals remain commit
Visitors have been restricted for the last two months by the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association to just end-of-life visiting and for one support person for women giving birth.
ted to protecting and safe- guarding our patients,” said Sarah Hackenbracht, President & CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Asso- ciation.
The hospital association said visitors will not be permitted for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in the hospital unless the patient meets one of the above exceptions.
In addition, updated guide- lines include:
■ All employees, staff, patients, and visitors will be screened for symptoms or exposure history.
■ Visitors will be asked to leave the facility if they have had symptoms in the past 24 hours or exposures in the last 14 days.
■ Employees, staff, patients, and visitors must wash their hands, or use hand sanitizer, before and after leaving rooms and hospital buildings.
■ Visitors should wear a mask when in the common areas of the hospital facility, suchas hallways, public restrooms, gift shops, and dining areas.
■ Visitors will be asked to wear their mask when a caregiver is present in a patient room.
■ Patients and visitors may provide and wear their own mask or will be required to accept and wear the mask provided by the hospital facility.
■ Masks or facial coverings must fully cover the nose and mouth.
If a visitor refuses to wear a mask, the visitor may be asked to leave the facility.
Exceptions may be made on an individual basis for those individuals who are unable to wear a mask due to health or disability issues.
“We ask for the public’s patience and cooperation as we learn to live with COVID19 in our region,” Hackenbracht said in a statement. “These measures will help our hospitals continue to provide the safe and secure environment our patients need to recover.”