THUNDER BAY – Since March, there have been strict visitor restrictions in place at our Hospital to keep our patients and staff safe and prevent the spread of #COVID19. Dr. Stewart Kennedy, Incident Manager at our Hospital, explains why many of these restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
“For the long term I think you’re going to see significant visitor restrictions in place here because it’s a valuable tool to have in place to prevent the spread of any infectious disease in our Hospital, not just COVID-19,” says Dr. Kennedy. “We revisit some of our difficult decisions regarding visitor restrictions on a weekly business. I understand that some of our restrictions are quite difficult for families who have children in the Hospital, partners of new mothers, and families whose loved ones are going through significant trauma or palliative care. We need to revisit those policies, but I can say for sure that we are not going to get back to the place we were before this pandemic.”
“We have learned a lot from the visitor restrictions, we have learned a lot from not allowing visitors to go out smoking, we have learned a lot from not allowing patients to wander the hallways,” he explains. “We do need to ease up on some of our restrictions as we become more comfortable with the amount of community spread of COVID-19, but we will also need to maintain other restrictions for the longer term. Our Recovery Team will be reviewing those policies and making recommendations. At the end of the day, it’s about keeping our patients, staff, and community safe.”
