Cape Fear Valley Health is further easing masking requirements and visitation restrictions that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, all areas of the health system will be open to visitors ages 12 to 17 who are with a parent or guardian, with the exception of the neonatal intensive care unit, according to the release. No visitors or patients will be required to wear a mask unless they have respiratory symptoms or are in the emergency department waiting room.
Any patients, visitors or employees who wish to wear a mask may do so.
Patients will be allowed as many as two visitors at a time from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. One overnight visitor per patient is allowed in the patient’s room, if space allows. Overnight visitors must be in the hospital before visiting hours close and cannot leave and return after 8 p.m., the release said.
Isolation protocols for individual patients must be followed.
Visitors will not be allowed in the emergency department waiting room unless the patient is 65 or older or is cognitively impaired. Emergency patients may have one visitor at a time once the patient has been assigned a room.
For pediatric emergency patients, two parents or guardians are allowed to be with the child in the waiting room and in an assigned room, the release said.
The following exceptions and specifications apply for visitation:
- Mothers in labor may have as many as three support people age 16 or older.
- Parents and guardians of patients in the pediatric intensive care unit may visit at any time.
- In the neonatal ICU, two banded visitors and four other designated visitors are allowed, but they must check in with the secretary’s desk. Two visitors at a time are allowed at bedside, and overnight stays are not allowed.
- Patients who need a health care decision maker or require communication assistance may have one companion with them at all times.
- End-of-life patients may have as many as four visitors at a time at bedside.
Any person with symptoms of a fever or respiratory illness, including cough or shortness of breath, is asked not to visit a hospital patient, the release said.
Check the health system’s website, https://www.capefearvalley.com/visit/, for the complete visitation guidelines.
