As of Monday, St. Joseph’s General Hospital Elliot Lake has announced changes in its visitors' policies.
In a news release, hospital CEO Jeremy Stevenson stated that in the Acute Care ward, visitors will now be permitted one at a time and two at a time for end-of-life cases.
Other adjustments have been made for the Emergency and Obstetrics/Pediatrics wards.
The full text of the news release is as follows:
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Elliot Lake advises the public that effective today, general visitors will now be permitted at its acute care hospital as follows during this first stage:
- Admitted Patients: One visitor at a time during the hours of 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and/or 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
- Palliative/End of Life: One visitor at a time, two visitors at a time permitted if end-of-life visiting hours do not apply.
- Emergency Department: one visitor if required for consent or the safety of the patient (for example, patient under age 18, visual/hearing or cognitive impairment, language barrier, elderly)
- Obstetrics/Pediatrics: One visitor for diagnostic procedures and admissions
- Scheduled Outpatients/Surgeries: Patients are asked to attend the hospital alone unless a visitor is required for consent or safety reasons (examples: patients under the age of 18, visual/hearing or cognitive impairment, language barrier, elderly)
- Essential Care Partners: An individual will be designated by the healthcare team as an essential care partner (ECP) if they are deemed necessary to be involved in the daily personal care of a patient. An ECP may come at any time and may be in the room in conjunction with one general visitor.
General visitors are those who wish to visit a patient but are not involved in the patient's daily personal care.
For questions or exceptions in urgent and compassionate circumstances, please contact the Patient Relations Office at 705-848-7181 ext. 2419 or email [email protected].