COLUMBUS, Ohio — Following the recent community surge of COVID-19 cases, OhioHealth announced that patients will be allowed to designate a single visitor for inpatient for the duration of their stay. Patients in emergency, medical practice, surgery, and outpatient infusion/radiation oncology space remain unchanged with one visitor allowed. The new visitor policy went into effect at midnight Aug. 31.

• Designated visitor may enter and exit the hospital as needed and stay overnight if clinically appropriate.

• Outpatients will continue to follow the outpatient exception policy

• Patients receiving behavioral healthcare will continue with current scheduled visitation process.

• OhioHealth Physician Group remains one visitor.

Requirements for visitors include:

• Visitor must be asymptomatic, wear masks and pass screenings.

• Visitor must be 18 years and older unless they are a parent of a patient.

Limited exceptions include:

• Caretaker: Visitor acting as a caretaker for a patient that is:

— Confirmed by clinical team a caretaker is currently required to support patient care.

— Dependent on caretaker prior to admission to perform tasks of basic activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, toileting and communication.

— Disoriented (e.g. traumatic brain injury, dementia, Alzheimer’s, altered mental state)

— Disabled (e.g. developmentally, hearing, autistic, etc.)

— In need of an interpreter.

• Patients receiving end-of-life care: Hospice/end-of-life patients may have up to three visitors at any given time, and no maximum number of visitors per day.

• Patients receiving neonatal, pediatric, adolescent care: Minor patients may have two parents or guardians visit.

• Maternity patients: Patients receiving maternity care are limited to two support persons.

— One of the support persons may stay overnight.

— Doulas are permitted, during labor and delivery, in addition to the two designated support persons.

— If the patient is a minor, patient may have both parents/guardians in addition to the other parent of the baby.

— Care sites with NICUs will follow Nationwide Children’s Hospital visitor management policy.

• Special Circumstance: Determined by clinical team

Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.