Limited number of ‘essential’ visitors now permitted but widespread COVID-19 restrictions remain

(July 20, 2020 – Orillia, ON)   Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) has slightly modified its COVID-19 visiting policy to accommodate a limited number of ‘essential’ visitors in most areas of the hospital, but many pandemic precautions remain in place.

Essential visitors are those required to meet the needs of the patient and who are requested by the patient.  Essential visitors must also meet eligibility requirements for visiting established by the hospital.    Inpatients and their family members can contact an essential visitor through staff on their unit.   From there, arrangements will be made to determine when the visits can occur and for how long.

Outpatients coming into the hospital for daytime appointments are advised to notify schedulers at the time of their appointment booking if they intend to bring an essential visitor in with them.

The Emergency Department will continue to assess on a case-by-case basis whether it is safe and appropriate for a patient to have a visitor with them.

“We recognize the value that visitors bring to our patients and we’re doing everything we can to strike an appropriate balance between everyone’s safety and the importance of re-uniting loved ones in hospital,” said Cheryl Harrison,   Executive Vice President of Patient Care & People Strategy

Upon arrival, essential visitors are screened at the main entry and must follow necessary precautions such as wearing a mask throughout their visit, maintaining physical distancing, frequent hand washing, and restricting their travel in hospital to designated areas only.

More detailed information about the hospital’s revised visiting policy is available on the COVID-19 page of its website, www.osmh.on.ca