Intermountain will be updating visitor guidelines on Monday, April 5, to safely increase visitors for non-COVID-19, COVID-positive, and end-of-life patients. We're also implementing a screening tool to help caregivers determine who can visit COVID-positive patients (with the exception of obstetric units excluded).
“We understand that visitation is an important part of the healing process,” says Troy Creer, BSN, MBA, executive nursing director for critical care operations. “The COVID pandemic created an environment where we had to limit and, in some cases, stop visitation for the safety of the patient, caregivers, and visitors. As the understanding of the disease and transmission has evolved, we’ve decided to allow certain visitation for COVID-positive patients. The visitors must be in a recovery phase of their COVID illness or have full vaccination with a two-week wait since series completion.”
Here’s a summary of the changes.
In any Intermountain facility:
- Wear a mask at all times. All visitors must wear a mask and are encouraged to bring their own cloth face coverings or masks. In some circumstances, masks and other protective equipment will be provided. Despite the state-wide mask mandate ending April 10, Intermountain will still require masks until further notice within our healthcare facilities to support COVID-19 prevention in our places of healing.
- A “designated visitor” may not switch with other individuals through the course of a hospital stay. For example, if a patient younger than 18 designated their mother and father as visitors, the father may not switch with a grandparent.
For visitors of patients in Intermountain hospitals and emergency departments who aren’t COVID-19 positive (or aren’t suspected to be positive):
- Patients who are 18 or older may have a maximum of two designated visitors throughout their stay and at their bedside at one time. A clergy or spiritual advisor can be appointed in addition to our two-visitors-per-patient guideline.
- For mothers in labor, a doula is considered one of the two designated visitors.
- Patients younger than 18 may have a maximum of two designated visitors at their bedside at one time as determined by patient acuity and ongoing treatment in an intensive care area. More instruction will be made available on admission, such as in the neonatal or pediatric intensive care units.
- As determined by the care team, a maximum of four designated visitors will be allowed in clinical conferences or care planning discussions, and still only two at a bedside at one time.
- For patients at end of life, up to eight total designated visitors will be allowed for the patient and can be allowed in the facility at a time. Only four at a time will be allowed in the patient room at one time. These visitors must be older than 12 and must wear specific protective equipment.
For visitors of patients in Intermountain hospitals and emergency departments who are COVID-19 positive (or suspected to be positive):
- Patients 17 or younger may have a maximum of two designated visitors throughout their stay.
- Visitation in intensive care units may be limited due to infrastructure and ongoing treatments. More information will be made available upon admission.
- Patients 18 or older admitted with COVID-19 may have a total of two family member visitors if the family members have proven recovery from COVID-19 within the last 90 days or proof of vaccine series completion at least 14 days prior (excluding obstetric units, which have different guidelines. See below.). They may visit after coordinating with the patient’s nurse by filling out a questionnaire. (Caregivers should reference the questionnaire guidelines for caregivers.)
- For laboring mothers, two designated visitors will be allowed at the bedside during delivery. Only one will be permitted to stay in postpartum and this person will be required to stay in the room throughout the stay. The visitors don’t need proof of recent COVID-19 recovery or proof of vaccination.
- For patients at end of life, up to eight total designated visitors will be allowed for the patient and can be allowed in the facility at a time, but only four visitors will be allowed at a time in the patient room. These visitors must be older than 12 and must wear specific protective equipment. The patient must also: '
- Be intubated and on comfort care, or be given more than 1 hour since extubation or the last aerosolizing procedure. If it’s been less than one hour since an aerosolizing procedure, only two family members are allowed at the bedside and they must wear PAPRs.
- For inpatient Behavioral Health units, please verify current visiting restrictions.
For Intermountain clinics and InstaCares:
All patients may have a maximum of two people accompany them to an appointment.
- While Intermountain recommends parents leave healthy children who aren’t seeking care for themselves supervised at home, we won’t turn away individuals seeking care when they have children accompanying them. Parents should do the following:
- Ensure children two years of age and older wear a mask if possible. If a mask isn’t available, one will be provided. If children are too young to mask, please ensure they’re healthy.
- Remember to socially distance from other patients while visiting.
- Don’t leave children unattended in a vehicle.
To review all the current visitor guidelines, please visit IntermountainHealthcare.org, which will be updated on Monday, April 5. Any exceptions to these hospital and emergency department guidelines will require approval through the hospital and medical leadership at the facility. Over the next few days, Intermountain will update any facility signage needs and update the greeter scripts. A Facebook Live discussion on Friday, April 2, will publicly announce the changes to our visitor restrictions.
If you have questions about the visitor guideline screening tool, contact Troy Creer.