The declining rates of COVID-19-related hospitalizations mean visiting hours are lengthened at one Windsor-Essex health system.
Starting Friday morning, Windsor Regional Hospital will relax visitor restrictions at the Ouellette Campus, Metropolitan Campus, and the Regional Cancer Centre. The hours will be in 12-hour blocks, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for all units except Critical Care, for which hours will be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
There are specific visitor policies in place for emergency, mental health, renal dialysis, maternity, pediatrics and neonatal intensive care, plus all outpatient appointments.
Also, Windsor Regional Hospital will allow two essential visitors per patient with some exceptions, although one of those visitors may be inside the building at a time. The visitors can be chosen by the patient to rotate during the patient's stay.
Four essential visitors will be allowed 24-7 for palliative care patients, two at a time. If a patient is coming off life support or is in end-of-life, four visitors may attend.
No visitors under 18 will be permitted unless they are visiting someone in end-of-life protocol and then, must be accompanied by an adult.
Those who have COVID-19 symptoms, have travelled out of Canada in the last two weeks, or have had close contact with someone who has a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19, will not be admitted.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has reported no outbreaks at any of the region's three health systems. As of Thursday morning, the health unit reported seven COVID-19 patients in area hospitals.
Complete information on visitor policies can be found on the hospital's official website.
