Sierra View allowing additional visitors
Given the COVID-19 positivity rates are remaining at a low level for Tulare County and the continued progress of COVID-19 vaccination among health care personnel and Tulare County residents, California Department of Public Health has released new visitation guidance to safely allow additional visitation.
Beginning on Monday, Sierra View Medical Center has increased the number of those allowed at the hospital to two visitors per patient for some areas within Sierra View and new visitation hours have been expanded at the entire hospital from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visitor age restrictions have also been changed from ages 18 and over to 13 years and older.
Although additional visitors are now being allowed to visit patients at Sierra View, there are several safety precautions and rules in place to help keep employees, patients and visitors safe during the several phases of reopening the hospital.
Visitors will be required to stay in the room with the patient in which they’re visiting and they will be asked to not roam the hospital.
The Café and the Coffee Corner will remain closed for visitation. As for the gift shop, visitors will only be allowed to stop in on their way up to the room.
The same safety precautions that were put into place for the first two phases pertain to this phase as well. All visitors will be screened upon arrival to the facility and must have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19; aren’t in the process of being tested for COVID-19; haven’t tested positive for COVID-19; and don’t have a known exposure to a COVID-19 positive person.
Visitors must wear a face covering upon entry and at all times within the facility, and must comply with any additional PPE while in the patient’s room. Visitors should maintain physical distancing from other visitors not from the same household as well as from the facility health care professionals at all times.
Going by the CDPH guidelines and Tulare County Health and Human Services recommendations, Sierra View’s Reopening Task Force collaboratively came up with a phase three modified visitation policy.
The following areas will now allow two visitors per patient between the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
These visitors don’t need to be the same visitor for the duration of the patient’s stay. If there are more than two visitors, the most recent to arrive will be asked to leave the facility:
Pediatric Patients; Patients at End-of-life (who have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and aren’t in the process of being tested for COVID-19); Patients with Physical, Intellectual, and/or Developmental Disabilities and Patients Cognitive Impairments; Med/surg, ICU and Telemetry (who have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and aren’t in the process of being tested for COVID-19).
Patients who are COVID positive remain under the No Visitor policy. In the event a COVID positive patient is determined to be at the end of life, two visitors will be allowed to come to the hospital to visit, but not allowed in the room. These visitors must meet and follow the guidelines outlined in the In-person Visitor Rules given out at the hospital.
As for details on other departments that don’t fall under the two visitor policy at this time, including surgery patients, the Emergency Department, Labor and Delivery Department and other facilities located outside of the main hospital, visit sierra-view. com and search “visitor guidelines.”