Rochester Regional Health is reinstating changes to its hospital visitation policies in the wake of the rapid transmission of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
The changes, which go into effect on Tuesday, Jan. 11, include:
No visitation for emergency dept. patients, cancer infusion center patients and patients on enhanced isolation precautions for COVID-19. (with some exceptions)
Patients may designate two visitors throughout the patient’s stay, and only one visitor is allowed at a time at the bedside for no more than four hours daily.
Other changes including requiring patients and visitors to wear a medical mask upon arrival, not a cloth mask.
RRH says that the enhanced visitor restrictions have proven effective during previous COVID surges.
Also on Friday, an official from that hospital system said that in increase in admissions is forcing Rochester General to divert some patients.
Dr. Robert Mayo is chief medical officer for Regional Regional Health systems.
He said that Rochester General Hospital is over capacity because of patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
This has caused the hospital to divert patients from the emergency department at least twice this week.
“These are short four-hour periods of time, they're designed to give the ED just a little bit of space to catch up with patient care, said Mayo.”
Mayo said this doesn’t mean turning patients away if they show up to the emergency department.
Rather, he said it’s asking EMT workers to redirect the patient to another facility if possible.
