Providence Medical Center has announced a new “no visitation” policy beginning Tuesday to support reducing the community effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus, according to a hospital statement today.
The policy will go into effect at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, according to the statement.
Visitors may be allowed if they receive administrative approval under certain circumstances, including:
• Visitation of a patient in critical care.
• Visitation of spouse or partner in maternity.
• Patients arriving at the Emergency Department will be allowed to have one visitor accompany them while being evaluated. A second visitor may remain in the waiting room if they pass the screening process.
• Patients arriving for an outpatient procedure or same-day surgery will be allowed to have one visitor accompany them if they pass the screening process.
“At this time, our top priority remains protecting public health and ensuring the safety of our patients, visitors, staff, physicians, volunteers and community,” according to a hospital statement.
Visiting hours end at 6:30 p.m. Monday, and there will be no visiting hours on Tuesday. Friends and relatives may call patients on the telephone.
A Providence spokesman, Sam Allred, said that Providence Medical Center followed the KDHE recommendations on testing following a patient from a nursing home who died at the hospital last Wednesday. Staff were screened according to the state requirements, he said.
While the hospital doesn’t release any information on patients, the state KDHE website showed only one person in Wyandotte County has tested positive for COVID-19, and that was the patient who died last Wednesday, he said. There are no other cases reported in Wyandotte County.
Providence Medical Center now has restricted entry to three entrances, and visitors are being screened upon entry, answering questions, and their temperature is being taken, he said.
The goal is to work to reduce the spread of COVID-19, he said.
Allred said they understand that if a patient is in critical care, his daughter would want to visit, and they will not deny that visit.
Those who would like additional information related to COVID-19, may contact KDHE by calling 1-866-534-3463; visiting www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus; or emailing [email protected].
“We know this policy may be inconvenient. Thank you for your understanding during this challenging time,” a hospital representative stated in the visitation announcement.