Updated August 30, 2021
CHRISTUS Ochsner Southwest Louisiana Visitor Guidelines
Universal Masking Still in Place at All CHRISTUS Facilities
We will continue to require all those in our hospitals, clinics, ambulatory surgery centers and other locations where care is provided to remain masked. As these locations remain open to the public, and as we will continue treating all those who need us, including those with COVID-19 and those without, it’s important that we ask our Associates, physicians, volunteers, patients and visitors to remain masked while in our facilities.
Visitor Policy
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.