Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals relax visitor protocols
As of Friday, March 4, Cape Cod Healthcare is relaxing visitor guidelines at Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals and allowing two visitors per day in most situations.
Visiting hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. No visitors under the age of 18 are allowed.
Visitors will be screened for symptoms of respiratory illness and will be required to wear a mask.
Two visitors per patient per day are being allowed, except in labor and delivery and the emergency department.
In labor and delivery, the new guidelines allow one visitor and one support person.
The emergency department restricts visitors to one person.
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Patients at the end of life are allowed two visitors at a time.
Visitation will only be allowed at the end of life for COVID-19 patients, and each case will be considered on an individual basis and reviewed before visitation takes place.
In cases where it benefits either the patient or the provider for the patient to have either a caregiver or family member accompany the patient, one visitor will be allowed.
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Examples of these situations include a minor accompanied by a parent or guardian, a person with a cognitive impairment or dementia and a person with limited mobility or who has anxiety or phobia regarding their visit.
The new guidelines coincide with a steep decline in COVID-19 cases.
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When cases were rapidly rising at the start of 2022, visitors were restricted to one per patient, except at the end of life, and to one support person per maternity patient.
For more information, please see the Cape Cod Healthcare COVID-19 Resource Center at www.capecodhealth.org/coronavirus.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod, Falmouth hospitals visitor guidelines relaxed as COVID dips
