June 21, 2021 – St. John’s, NL: Eastern Health advises the public of updates to visitor restrictions, effective today, Monday, June 21, 2021. These updated guidelines replace the previous designated visitor process for visiting patients in hospital and long-term care residents.
Visitation hours are determined by facility and visitors/support persons are advised to contact the patient’s/resident’s health-care team for further information. All support persons/visitors must register upon arrival to the facility and be screened prior to the visit. Visits will only proceed for individuals who meet the screening criteria.
These temporary visitation restrictions remain in place provincially to reduce the risk of possible transmission of COVID-19. Guidelines have been updated to reflect current epidemiology and population vaccination status and will continue to be monitored and updated accordingly. Effective today, the following restrictions are in place at Eastern Health facilities:
- Hospital patients can identify one support person, if required, and up to two visitors per day who can visit separately once a day unless otherwise advised by the clinical care team.
- Long-term care residents can identify one support person, if required, and up to two visitors per day who can visit separately once a day, or at the same time (if physical distancing requirements can be
maintained). Visitors are advised to connect with the patient’s health-care team to discuss visitation hours. - Obstetrics patients may have one support person and one doula during delivery, and up to two visitors per day are permitted after delivery until the time of the patient’s discharge.
- Pediatric patients in hospital may have both parents/guardians visit at the same time and there are no restrictions on the number of visits per day.
- Intensive care unit/critical care unit patients are permitted to have two visitors who can visit at the same time.
- Out-patients and Emergency Department patients can be accompanied by one person for emergency, outpatient and ambulatory care clinics, appointments or procedures. In keeping with public health guidance to reduce the number of contacts wherever possible, patients are asked to carefully consider the necessity of an attendee when visiting these areas. To support that guidance, patients who can safely manage their interaction for out-patient care without assistance/support should attend unaccompanied.
- Palliative care and end-of-life visitation should be discussed with the health-care team.
Please note that some areas may not be able to accommodate multiple support people/visitors due to the need to maintain physical distancing requirements. In these cases, clinical care teams will work with families to identify visitation options.
Support persons/visitors are advised that if they show any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, they should not enter a health-care, or long-term care/residential care site, and contact 811 by visiting www.811healthline.ca/covid-19-self-assessment/ or by calling 811. All support persons/visitors must be able to wear the mask provided at point of entry, and visitation may be suspended if visitors are not following procedures/facility policies.
Please note that approval of a travel exemption does not grant approval for a traveller to visit a loved one at an Eastern Health facility. An exemption must be granted to the traveller by Eastern Health. Individuals seeking an exemption are advised to contact the health-care team to request the exemption.
For updates pertaining to Eastern Health’s ongoing services, please visit Eastern Health’s Facebook page and Twitter feed. General contact information for Eastern Health’s programs and services is available at: www.easternhealth.ca/contactus.
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