By SALINA POST
Salina Regional Health Center announced this afternoon that it would be modifying its visitation guidelines due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the community.
"Effective tomorrow, January 12, all adult hospital inpatients will be limited to having one visitor per day. That one visitor will be permitted to come and go each day using the hospital’s main entrance during the hours of 5 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Pediatric inpatients will still be allowed to have two parents/caregivers present. Hospital inpatients had previously been allowed to have two visitors at the same time without restrictions on the number of visitors alternating throughout each day," Salina Regional noted in a news release about the matter.
Additionally, all hospital outpatients and Salina SRHC-affiliated clinic patients will continue to have only one visitor or assistant accompany them to their appointments, including Emergency Department patients and outpatients with appointments for the following.
●Surgery
●Lab
●Radiology
●Physical therapy
●Other services and doctor’s visits
Pediatric patients will continue to be allowed to have two parents/caregivers accompany them to appointments.
“We’ve seen a significant and rapid rise in the number of active COVID-19 cases in the community and will continue to modify our visitation rules following guidelines set forth by the CDC and KDHE for health care providers,” said Bethanie McDowell, infection prevention director at SRHC. “Additional changes to our policies may be needed in the near future.”
Following are visitor need-to-knows from Salina Regional Health Center.
●Inpatient visitors may only enter the hospital Main Entrance between the hours of 5 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
●Visitors are not allowed to access the main hospital through the Emergency Department entrance at any time.
●Visitors are welcome to stay as long as they like within routine hospital visiting hours.
●Visitors will be screened for COVID-19 risk, logged at the information desk and given an ID bracelet upon entry.
●Visitors must be age 18 or older.
●Visitors will be asked to wear a mask throughout the visit including in hallways, public areas and the patient’s room.
●Visitors should remain in the patient’s room as much as possible.
●NO VISITORS are permitted for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
Current visitation guidelines can be found at www.srhc.com.