Province relaxing hospital visitor restrictions

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This article was published 04/06/2020 (1928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the Phase 2 reopening plan fully underway, the province recently announced that Manitoba hospitals and health centres will be restoring visitor access starting Friday.

While these new measures won’t be implemented in some locations until early next week, Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said this represents a positive step in the right direction, since hospital visits have been kept to a minimum during the last couple months due to concerns about COVID-19 outbreak.

“For compassionate reasons, on a case-by-case basis, people have been allowed to visit, but it really was quite minimal up until now,” she said during Wednesday’s news conference.

Now, Siragusa said these new guidelines will allow most patients to identify a single support person who may visit them once a day.

“Most visitors will be restricted to visiting one at a time, although exceptions will be made for children under 14 who need to be accompanied by an adult,” she said.

Siragusa said further exceptions will be designated for specific patient populations.

For example, expectant mothers may identify two support people who can show up at the same time. However, only one of those support people will be able to stay overnight.

Children in pediatric care are allowed two designated caregivers a day, with one visitor being allowed to stay overnight.

When it comes to end-of-life care, Siragusa said visitor access will depend on the stage of the patient’s illness, the trajectory of their decline and the projected timing of death.

However, during the last two weeks of a patient’s life, a maximum of four designated support people may be identified to visit. Two support people may visit together anytime outside of visiting hours.

Additionally, patients who are suspected or confirmed of having COVID-19 will be allowed visitors under restrictive circumstances, with health-care officials on standby to make sure personal protective equipment is worn and applied appropriately.

All visitors must comply with infection prevention and control protocols, which includes strict hand hygiene and the maintaining of physical distancing.

“This will be another evolution as we learn and adapt through this pandemic,” Siragusa said. “We believe these new guidelines strike a balance between protecting staff and patients, minimizing the spread of COVID, as well as ensuring that those vitals connections with loved ones help to promote health and healing.”

Siragusa also said the province is asking health centres to set up outside visits — similar to what’s already been implemented in personal care homes — if that is within their operational capacity.

Families are still encouraged to connect with their hospitalized loved ones virtually, since these new measures will not allow everyone to visit health centres all at once.

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