Hillsdale Hospital allows increased visitation following COVID-19 case decrease

Home City News Hillsdale Hospital allows increased visitation following COVID-19 case decrease
Hillsdale Hospital allows increased visitation following COVID-19 case decrease
Hillsdale Hospital begins allowing limited visitors. Maggie Hroncich | Collegian

Hillsdale Hospital is once again allowing people to visit hospital patients and nursing home residents, though in a limited capacity, following a continued decrease in the rate of new COVID-19 cases across Hillsdale County, according to Hillsdale Hospital Director of Marketing and Development Rachel Lott.

Lott said in a Jan. 19 press release that the decision came in recognition of the importance of loved ones to patients. The number of visitors and areas of visitation will still be limited. Both skilled nursing facility units, McGuire and MacRitchie, remain off-limits to visitors due to federal requirements. For patients and residents in those units, friends and family can still visit with them virtually.

“We are still limiting the number of visitors and in what areas they will be permitted, but we recognize how important it is for patients to have their loved ones involved and present in their care, so we are opening up visitation where we can,” Lott said in Tuesday’s release.

The decrease in COVID-19 new cases comes as a welcome change following several months of increasing rates of diagnosis in the county. 

The hospital first restricted visitation at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring to ensure the safety of staff, patients, and visitors. The hospital enacted other measures as well, some government-mandated and some private precautions which included additional cleaning, screening patients, wearing masks, washing hands, and social-distancing measures. 

Since enacting the restrictions, the hospital has altered visitation rules through daily reassessments reflecting any changes in COVID-19 cases and trends in the illness’s severity, among other factors. Due to rising cases across the county as well as the state, the hospital most previously banned most visitors on Nov. 2.

On Dec. 2, the hospital published a release declaring the hospitalization rate of cases up significantly. The release cited Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ public data, which revealed a nearly four-fold increase in the number of new cases in Hillsdale County from October to November. Furthermore, the release said that data from the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency showed 248 new COVID-19 positive cases in Hillsdale County in the prior week.

Since then, however, the numbers have significantly declined again.

“We are encouraged by the decreasing number of new cases in the county and feel confident that visitors can return to the hospital without posing significant risks to patients or staff,” Lott said in Tuesday’s press release. 

Only visitors who don’t require special hospital care are permitted as of now, with the exception of visitors whose patients require visitors for care, patients are under the age of 21 and require a guardian, or in the case of a patient’s life ending. 

More specific permissions may apply depending on the hospital unit to which the patient belongs. Other permissions include the allowance of one adult visitor per patient for the patient’s entire time in the emergency room.

In the medical/surgical/critical care unit, one visitor is permitted for each 24-hour period from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. One visitor per patient is allowed for the entire duration of a patient’s stay in the behavioral health unit, for which visiting hours are limited to one to two hours per day. The birthing center allows one adult visitor for the duration of the birthing period, which is limited to one person per 24-hour period from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In the circumstance of surgery, the hospital permits one visitor per patient for the duration of that patient’s stay. The hospital also allows one adult visitor per patient for obstetrics appointments at the OB/GYN clinic and obstetrics ultrasounds at the hospital.

Additionally, visitors are allowed to the hospital to pay bills or access medical records but aren’t allowed in all other outpatient services and clinics, Hillsdale Hospital Gift Shop, and cafeteria. 

The hospital will continue to screen all patients and permitted visitors. The hospital requires all visitors to wear masks and asks all patients who are physically able to wear masks as well, according to the most recent press release. 

“Hillsdale Hospital has not and will not deny medical care of any kind to patients who do not wear a mask. Visitors who do not wear a mask, however, are not permitted entry,” the press release stated. 

Further details are outlined on the Hillsdale Hospital website under “coronavirus.”