Visitor Guidelines

Our top priority is to provide safe and compassionate care for our families and essential support people as they visit our patients. We work tirelessly to prevent person-to-person transmission of infectious diseases by ensuring our acute care and ambulatory settings are safe and cleaned daily with hospital-grade sanitizing products.

Providing comprehensive care that includes maintaining optimal wellness of the mind, body and spirit of our patients is of the utmost importance to us. In alignment with our values and recognizing the impact a family member or essential support person* can have on the healing process of our patients, we ensure access to our facilities are safe and equitable.

Visitor: Any person on hospital property who is visiting a patient within our campus without the intent to seek medical care for themselves.

Essential Support Person: A family member, friend, or other individual who provides emotional, physical and/or spiritual support for the patient during the course of the clinical care. Essential Support Persons are encouraged to be involved and supportive of the patient and are integral to the overall wellbeing of the patient. The Essential Support Person may be, but it is not limited to, the patient’s surrogate decision maker. The main goal of an Essential Support Person is to be a companion during care, not necessarily to make health care related decisions on behalf of the patient.

We strive to provide patient and family-centered care whenever possible, however, visitation may need to be limited in emergency declarations or in the context of executive orders. In these situations, we will continue to follow current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will provide us with the needed processes to keep our patients, Associates, and clinicians safe from possible COVID-19 transmission. Please see below to help you determine which visitor category you may fall under.

Please note that masks are required in all of our CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center Facilities.

 

Vistor Guidelines

COVID under aerosol-generating treatment or procedure 

Essential support person - Tele-visitation

All Other Visitors - Tele-visitation

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time (only during Compassionate Care Exception) - Two

COVID and no aerosol-generating treatment or procedure 

Essential support person - One in the room at a time

All Other Visitors - Tele-visitation

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - Up to one (Up to two only during Compassionate Care Exception)

Compassionate Care Exception 

Essential support person - One in the room at a time

All Other Visitors - Up to three visitors in the room at a time, no limit on number of visitors per day

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - up to four (if COVID, limited to two)

Critical Care Units 

Essential support person - One in the room at a time

All Other Visitors - Tele-visitation

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - Up to one

Emergency Department 

Essential support person - One in the room at a time

All Other Visitors

  • One Visitor for ESI triage levels 1-2-3
  • Tele-visitation for ESI triage levels 4-5

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - Up to two

Inpatent Pediatric 

Essential support person - One caregiver in the room at all times

All Other Visitors - A second caregiver or support person may be present

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - Up to two (three if a minor is present)

All other situations (Inpatient, Adult, L&D, same day procedures, appointments, etc.) 

Essential support person - One in the room at a time

All Other Visitors - Up to one visitor in the room at a time

Max. number of people allowed in the room at any given time - Up to two (three if a minor is present)

Please Note:

All visitors and essential support persons must complete visitor screening and comply with universal masking according to current screening and masking guidelines. When visiting COVID patients, visitors and essential support persons must also comply with the use personal protective equipment as specified in this policy.

Per stay, each patient is permitted to designate one or more essential support persons. The identification process must be coordinated through admission or registration desk where each essential support person receives a visible wrist band.

End of life and other compassionate care situations must be evaluated by the house supervisor or administrator on call on a case-by-case basis.