Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center today announced it is expanding patient visitation in its medical and behavioral health units. The new visitation policy comes with provisions to enhance safety for patients and staff.
Visitors will now be allowed entrance into the Medical Center seven days a week from 12 noon to 8:30 p.m., on behavior health floors from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., and in the Intensive Care Unit from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Updates to the policy include:
- Two (2) designated inpatient visitors or support persons are permitted in a patient room, or designated area, at a time and must remain there unless directed otherwise by hospital staff.
- Labor and Delivery: one support person may accompany patient during maternity stay until discharge home. Two support persons may accompany the mother during labor, delivery and the postpartum period, including recovery, until discharge home. No other visitors will be allowed; this includes children under the age of 18.
- Surgery: patients having a same-day procedure may have one visitor remain in a designated waiting area and through the discharge process.
- Emergency Department: for adult patients, one visitor is allowed with a patient and remain in the treatment room for the entire visit, except when asked to leave for patient care. For pediatric patients, two support persons are allowed and must remain in the patient’s treatment room for the entire visit.
- Visitors must be 12 years of age or older, 18 years of age or older for behavioral health units and labor and delivery.
- No visitors will be permitted to see a patient with an active diagnosis of COVID-19.
- Individuals that have been diagnosed with COVID-19 that have not fulfilled CDC criteria for removal from isolation, or have been in contact with someone who is actively infected with COVID-19 or is under investigation for COVID-19 within 14 days are not permitted to visit a patient.
- Any visitor who is otherwise exhibiting signs and symptoms of an illness or has an illness that could be transferred to our patients, is not permitted to visit.
- Exceptions for after-hours visitation may be permitted in the instance of labor and delivery; emergency department; pediatric patients; patients with special needs or cognitive impairments; and end-of-life patients.
All visitors will be asked to submit a health screening upon entrance into the Medical Center, must properly wear face coverings at all times, regardless of visitor or patient vaccination status, and must practice social distancing and meticulous hand hygiene. Visitors who fail to wear a face covering or comply with the requirements will be asked to leave the facility.
