Friday 15 May 2020Health news3 minutes to read
As we settle into Alert Level 2, and more of us are getting out and about our best defence against the spread of COVID-19 is to continue engaging in physical distancing protocols, so visitor restrictions still apply at all of our facilities, however some rules have been relaxed.
For most inpatient ward areas at Grey Base Hospital, it’s still one visitor at a time but we are now allowing more than one person to visit a patient each day during visiting hours. Each visitor can only visit once.
Visitors are now allowed in our high risk areas where our most vulnerable patients are or where patients are in isolation but this is confined to one visitor per patient per day. Exceptions may be made on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis for end of life care of patients who are not COVID-19 positive.
General family visits are allowed to all Aged Residential Care (ARC) facilities across the Coast but there are restrictions on the number of family members visiting and frequency of visiting. All visitors to ARC facilities will be assessed for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and will be asked about their travel history and history of contact of people with COVID-19.
People who are self-isolating or who are unwell should remain at home and should not visit.
Visiting for maternity services under Alert Level 2 remains the same. Women who have had an elective caesarean section can have one support person. Women in labour in a maternity facility are allowed two nominated support people from their extended bubble for the duration of the labour and birth. For the duration of postnatal stays, women can have one named support person from the same bubble who can visit once per day for any length of time between 10am and 8pm.
For contact tracing purposes, all visitors will be screened at entrances to our facilities, and you will need to sign in and out.
“Good hand hygiene, covering coughs or sneezes and practicing safe physical distancing are all still vitally important,” says West Coast DHB Medical Director, Dr Graham Roper.
“Under Alert Level 2, for most inpatient ward areas only one person per patient can visit or support a member of your whānau who is unwell at a time, but we are now allowing more than one person to visit a patient each day during visiting hours. If you are planning to visit, we just ask that you follow the rules which have been put in place to protect you and others,” Dr Roper says.
This updated guidance came into effect at all West Coast DHB facilities from Thursday 14 May.
For more information on the visitor guidance for each West Coast DHB health facility, please visit the COVID-19 page on our website.
ENDS
Grey Base HospitalGreymouthService changesService interruptionsupdate
Page last updated: 16 December 2022
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