Nuvance, Yale New Haven tighten visiting rules
Visitors must provide evidence of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test
If you’re planning to visit a friend or loved one in the hospital, be aware: Yale New Haven Health will require nearly all hospital visitors to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test as of 8 a.m. Thursday.
Nuvance Health, which already requires proof of vaccination, will begin limiting visiting hours to between 4 and 8 p.m. at its Connecticut hospitals starting Thursday.
Dr. Thomas Balcezak, chief clinical officer for Yale New Haven Health, said Wednesday the policy was set to keep staff and other visitors from becoming infected.
“We’ve been talking about it for some time and we always try to keep as much access for visitors as we possibly can,” Balcezak said. “Reducing the number or time that visitors are allowed is really tough on families and patients.”
However, he said, the health system’s administration made the decision because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, including breakthrough infections of vaccinated people.
“The fact remains, if our employees get sick because they’re exposed, they’re going to have to stay home,” exacerbating the health system’s staff shortages. He called the situation “bad for the institution and bad for the community.”
Patients also need to be protected, although there have not been many cases from visitors, Balcezak said.
Yale New Haven Health includes Yale New Haven Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London and Westerly Hospital in Westerly, R.I..
Patients will be allowed one visitor per day, at least 18 years old, according to a release. Visitors must show a government-issued photo ID and provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination at least 14 days before or proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the visit. Home test kits will not be accepted.
Exceptions will be made by the patient’s care team and include partners of women in labor, patients with disabilities and patients at end of life. Other exceptions are possible, the release said.
Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer at Hartford HealthCare, said Wednesday the health system is not changing its hospital visitor policy “at this time.”
“We’ll continue to revisit this over the next several weeks, but our policy has not changed,” he said.
“Periodically we’ve considered some limitations in emergency rooms when the capacity is significantly higher,” he added, in order to protect the safety of the existing patients. That was true Wednesday afternoon at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, according to the Hartford HealthCare website. Otherwise, one adult visitor is allowed at a time for most patients.
Nuvance Health, which includes Danbury, New
Milford, Norwalk and Sharon hospitals, started requiring visitors to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test result on Oct. 5.
As of Thursday, visitors to Nuvance hospitals are restricted to a maximum of four hours per day. At its Connecticut hospitals, visitors are permitted between 4 and 8 p.m. daily.