Officials at Rochester Regional Health say that due to the rapidly increasing prevalence of COVID-19 in the Finger Lakes region, they will suspend general visitation at all hospitals effective Sunday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
This includes Rochester General Hospital, Unity Hospital in Greece, UMMC in Batavia, Genesee County, and Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic in Clifton Springs, Ontario County.
Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in Newark, Wayne County suspended visitation last week.
Limited visitation will be allowed in the following cases:
- Pediatric patients may have one support person on-site at a time. Two support people can alternate visitation.
- Obstetrical patients may have one on-site support person and a doula.
- Patients with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, and cognitive impairments, including dementia or who have conditions protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, may have a support person who is medically necessary for their care.
- Visitation at end of life.
In the above cases, visitation will only be allowed under the following conditions:
- Visitors/support people will have their temperature checked before entering the hospital and then again every 12 hours while in a clinical area.
- If a visitor/support person has a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or more) or displays symptoms, they are not allowed into the hospital.
As for Strong Memorial and other hospitals that are part of the the University of Rochester Medical Center, URMC released this statement Friday night:
"URMC has been working closely with the Monroe County Health Department and Rochester Regional Health System to ensure a coordinated response to the recent rise of COVID cases in our community. URMC stands ready with Rochester Regional to limit visitation as necessary to protect patients, staff, and visitors. At URMC, we are monitoring the number of COVID hospitalizations in our facilities to make decisions about visitation.
At this time, we are not changing our already-restricted visitation policies. But because this is a rapidly changing situation, we may need to limit visitation further if cases continue to rise. We ask members of the public to check the hospital’s websitebefore visiting. We also encourage everyone to follow the safety precautions that have been shown to reduce the spread of COVID: masking, social distancing, and hand hygiene."
