Beginning Tuesday, May 5, patients of Rapides Regional Medical Center will be allowed one designated visitor per patient’s hospital stay.
“Families are a vital part of the healing process,” said Chief Nursing Office Barbara Griffin, MSN, RN, NE-BC. “We are happy to see a decrease in our COVID-19 volumes. This is allowing us to thoughtfully implement a limited visitation policy.”
All visitors for patients should enter Rapides Regional Medical Center through the Medical Terrace first floor entrance Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and through the Emergency Department entrance on Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. No visitors will be allowed entrance after 5:30 p.m. (Visitors for Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital may still enter at the Scott Street entrance, open 24/7.) All visitors will be required to provide and wear their own mask for the duration of their visit.
Visiting hours for critical care patients located in our Intensive Care Units are 4 p.m.-5 p.m. daily. There will be a 15-minute post-surgical visit allowed in these two units.
COVID patients remain in isolation with no visitors allowed, although TeleVisiting is available for them. COVID patients are located in a designated area and separate from other non-COVID patients.
Limited visitation allows:
- One dedicated caregiver per inpatient, per stay.
- One dedicated parent/caregiver for pediatric or mentally disabled patients who cannot be left alone.
- One dedicated caregiver/driver for outpatient surgery, cath lab and/or testing.
- On dedicated parent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
- One dedicated family member for those where end of life care is being given.
- One visitor per surgery and heart cath, procedures.
- No visitors under the age of 15.
“We are pleased to be able to open our doors to limited visitors at this time,” said Jason E. Cobb, CEO of Rapides Regional Medical Center. “This is an encouraging sign and one that shows our community can move forward one step at a time.”
RRMC is following CDC-recommended protocols that may necessitate further changes to our visitation policy.