The province will be expanding visitor access for inpatients in Manitoba hospitals and health centres beginning Friday (June 5) as part of the Phase 2 re-opening plan.
Health, Seniors, and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen says there are able to make this announcement due to the great work of Manitobans, “Connecting with family members, loved ones and support systems are an important part of the healing process for someone in the hospital. During the peak of the pandemic, in-person visits had to be limited as we took every necessary step to prevent the spread of this virus,”
All visitors must comply with infection prevention and control measures, which includes strict hand hygiene and maintaining physical distancing (six feet/two metres apart) at all times.
Friesen noted this expanded visitor access follows the successful introduction of outdoor visits at Manitoba’s personal care homes last week.
The new guidelines are as follows:
– For most inpatients, one designated support person can be identified to visit;
– For most inpatients, one visitor at a time will be permitted an exceptions will be made to allow a second visitor under the age of 14 accompanied by an adult;
– If a patient’s length of stay reaches 14 days and discharge is unlikely to occur in the next 72 hours, two designated support people can be identified to visit and will be allowed to visit (one at a time) for the remainder of the patient’s stay in hospital;
– Two designated support people are also permitted for the following patient populations:
– Labour and delivery (both support people may be present during labour and delivery, and one may stay overnight with approval);
– Pediatrics (both support people may visit every day, one parent may stay overnight);
– End-of-life care (during the last two weeks of care a maximum of four support people may be identified to visit).
– CancerCare patients who require assistance to access ongoing treatment may be permitted a support person on a case-by-case basis;
– Facilities may need to limit the number of visitors in a unit or in the facility at any one time and limits are at the discretion of the facility operator and will be clearly communicated to visitors;
– Visits to COVID-19 suspect or positive patients/units continue to be restricted and consideration of exceptions will be made by care teams on a case-by-case basis; and
– Case-by-case exceptions also exist for visits to patients in labour and delivery, pediatrics and end-of-life care.