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Limitations on the number of visitors and family members will ease Wednesday at some hospitals in Saskatoon.
Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon City Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital will move to the Recovery Phase for family presence and visitor restrictions on Aug. 18, 2021, according to a news release from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Tuesday.
No limit will be imposed on the number of essential family or support persons or visitors that can be designated for each patient. Patients and their families, however, are still asked to consider limiting the number of designated individuals who can visit in recognition of the risk of exposure or transmission of COVID-19 with every visit to an acute care facility.
Indoors, two essential family or support persons can be present at a time. Up to four essential family or support persons can be present at the same time in intensive care, end-of-life or palliative care areas.
No limitations on outdoor visitors are in effect.
Visiting hours will remain in place during this phase, allowing family and other visitors to be present with loved ones between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The timing of in-person visits may be subject to scheduling limitations of the unit, however. It is advised that families and visitors coordinate with the care team at their facility to arrange visits in advance when possible.
Emergency department capacities and demands will dictate that these units remain at Level 1 Family Presence, which allows one support person to accompany a patient into the department.
Transmission of COVID-19 will continue to be monitored closely by local areas due to the presence of the virus and variants of concern like Delta that pose a risk to staff, physicians, patients, family and visitors in SHA facilities.
This phase is “intended to be a safe progression towards pre-pandemic Open Family Presence, which welcomed essential family/support persons at any time to support patient care,” the release read.
Family presence restrictions will continue to be reviewed weekly should further levels of restriction need to be reinstated depending on local transmission rates and hospital capacity.
The SHA will return to open family presence “as soon as it is safe to do so.”
