Hospital places restrictions on visitation due to influenza
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Newman Regional Health has implemented new visitation restrictions because of the increase of influenza in the area. The restrictions are temporary and are as follows:
- Limit visitation only to visits that are absolutely necessary.
- Do not visit if you have any signs or symptoms of communicable illness including fever, aching, headache, sore throat, cough, vomiting or diarrhea or if you have been exposed to H1N1 or other seasonal flu within the past seven days.
- Children under the age of 12 should not be brought to the hospital to visit, except for sibling visitation on the obstetrical floor with permission and screening from the nurse. In other special circumstances, visits will need to be cleared with the nurse in charge of the unit before any children visit.
- All visitors are requested to wash their hands before and after a patient visit, using soap and water or the alcohol foam cleaner located outside each patient room. If visiting more than one patient room, wash hands well in between patient visits. When entering and exiting the hospital, use the new alcohol foam cleaners near each elevator provided by the Newman Auxiliary.
“We take patient safety very seriously,” said Jami White, infection preventionist at Newman Regional Health. “We hope the public understands our efforts to decrease the spread of flu and join us to help reduce the risk of possible exposure both to our patients and visitors.”
White said the H1N1 vaccine is recommended for certain individuals but it is not available yet.
“Thus we encourage everyone to follow other measures such as frequent hand washing and staying home when you are sick to avoid spreading illness,” White said. “We will continue to monitor the situation very closely and may add additional restrictions if necessary. ...”
In addition, Newman Regional Health has used its supply of public seasonal flu vaccine and is unable to offer flu shots to the public at present.
For more information on the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu, visit the Kansas Department of Health and Environment at www.keheks.gov/H1N1 or Centers for Disease Control at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.