Wellspan Health on Tuesday announced that its Pennsylvania facilities will begin allowing visitation of one family or support person for inpatient, emergency department, clinic visits, and outpatient locations per stay.
The new visitation policy, enacted due to the decline of positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across south central Pennsylvania, goes into effect on Wednesday, Wellspan said.
Under the revised guidance, obstetrical patients will continue to be able to have one birth support person accompanying them throughout their admission and care, Wellspan said. This person must be age 18 or older (unless they are the parent of the baby) and are in good health.
For pediatric patients, two healthy parents/guardians will be allowed in the unit at a time and they are approved for the entirety of the hospitalization, Wellspan said.
For patients undergoing outpatient surgery, testing, and for patients with a primary care or specialty care appointment, one person may accompany the patient into the facility while the procedure or care visit is being completed, according to Wellspan.
At this time, visitors are not permitted at WellSpan’s COVID-19 vaccine locations, the healthcare system said.
All family or support persons who wish to enter a Wellspan Health facility will be screened, and no one with COVID-19 symptoms will be permitted to enter, Wellspan said.
Everyone entering the facilities will also be required to wear a mask, according to Wellspan.
"Safety remains our top priority," Wellspan said in its announcement. "We will continue to track the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the community and adjust our visitation policies as needed to protect our patients and our teams.
"We recognize the difficulties the limited visitation policy presents to families and we continue to provide virtual visitation for those that can't be with loved ones during these trying times."
