The decision this week by Newman Regional Health to move to its most restrictive patient visitation level was done after several weeks of increased COVID-19 traffic.
That was the perspective of Infection Preventionist Ester Knobloch on KVOE’s Newsmaker segment Thursday.
Positivity rates at the hospital had been at 8.2 percent in September. Those are now above 20 percent. Other patient traffic stats have not been announced.
The hospital made the announcement Wednesday after going into Tier 3 status, meaning visitors are prohibited from entering the facility aside from special circumstances, such as:
* Childbirth
* Surgical outpatient procedures
* Critical care patients transferring to a tertiary facility
* Patients at time of discharge
* Appointments for pediatric patients under the age of 18
* Patients experiencing end-of-life
* Patients with acute or chronic cognitive impairment
Visitations for any of these scenarios will be decided by a patient’s provider, nursing staff and unit director.
Knobloch says the move to tighter restrictions is part of the hospital’s philosophy of serving those in medical need.
Off the COVID topic, Knobloch says Newman Regional Health recently had its first few influenza cases and traffic as a whole is starting to get more active in neighboring states. There haven’t been any co-infections between COVID and flu at the hospital, but Knobloch says there have been cases elsewhere across the country. She urges residents to get vaccinated against both coronavirus and influenza.
