More hospitals restrict child visitors

Landmark Medical Center, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Kent Hospital, Butler Hospital and St. Anne’s Hospital have joined a growing number of medical facilities that are restricting visits by children under 18 and anyone with flu-like symptoms to protect against H1N1.
Such policies were already in effect at the Lifespan hospitals, Women & Infants Hospital, and to a more limited extent, at the Southcoast Hospitals.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, Richard R. Charest, president of Landmark Medical Center, announced that because of the severity of this year’s flu season, no visitors age 18 or younger would be allowed, nor anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms.
As of Friday, Oct. 30, Memorial Hospital isn’t allowing any children under 18 or people with symptoms such as a fever, a dry cough, runny or stuffy nose, head or muscle aches, and extreme tiredness. Anyone who enters the hospital with such symptoms will be required to wear a face mask, and instead of visiting patients, they will be directed to use a phone.
The hospital is also limiting each maternity and pediatric patient to two visitors at a time, in addition to the woman’s “significant other.” Children will be allowed to visit maternity patients with the approval of the nurse manager. Visitors to the pediatric and maternity wards will have to go through a health screening before seeing the patient.
At Kent Hospital, anyone with flu-like symptoms is asked not to visit, and no more than two people are allowed to visit at a time. Anyone visiting a person with influenza-like illness must wear a face mask while visiting.
Under-18 visitors are not banned from all inpatient areas, but they may not visit the Women’s Care Center; they may visit the nursery by appointment only, and only after undergoing a health screening. In general, only two people may visit patients in that ward at any given time, and all must undergo a health screening first.
Butler Hospital is asking people with flu-like symptoms and anyone under age 18 to avoid visiting patients.
St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River is asking visitors to stay away if they are under age 18, if they have had flu-like symptoms, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea in the last 48 hours, or if they have been in contact with anyone with those symptoms.
“Putting more stringent restrictions in place is the best method to protect the health of our patients and the community we serve,” said Charest, at Landmark. “With the current uptick in seasonal flu and H1N1 cases before the peak of flu season, we feel this precaution is necessary.”