Alberta upgrades its visitation guidelines for hospitals
Posted Jun 5, 2020 6:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (660NEWS) — Revised visitation guidelines for hospitals come into effect Saturday for all patients in acute outpatient and inpatient settings.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) released the updated guidelines to allow for expansion on some visitation while maintaining specific criteria intended to protect patients, residents, volunteers and staff.
“For ambulatory care visits, an individual coming for care to an outpatient clinic can be accompanied by one support individual, and for hospitalized inpatients, two designated support individuals can be identified so they can visit at the same time”, explained Dr. Mark Joffe, Alberta Health Services vice-president and medical director for northern Alberta.
There will need to be space for two people to visit at the same time and physical distancing must be maintained, they will be required to have a health assessment and be asked to wear a mask or other protective equipment, Joffe said.
AHS will seek input to try and reduce some of the rules for continuing care facilities. Until that is complete, the existing visitation guidelines still apply.
