Changes approved for Penn State Health COVID-19 Patient Visitation Guideline

Hershey Medical Center’s Patient and Guest Experience Department has made changes to the Patient Visitation Guideline – COVID-19 and updated related resource documents to reflect these changes.

The department made the revisions based upon feedback from patients, families and staff and an analysis of the current COVID-19 “environment.”

The Patient Visitation Guideline ― COVID-19 changes include:

• Allowing Pediatric Emergency Department patients who are not suspected/not COVID-positive to be accompanied by two family/support person(s)
• Adding new language for pediatric patients, changing language from “parent/guardian” to “family/support person”
• Updating the policy to include sections for all patients, adult patients and pediatric patients

Hershey Medical Center and St. Joseph Medical Center employees should review the Patient Visitation Guideline – COVID-19. The changes also will be posted to the Medical Centers’ public websites.

Clinicians individualize patient care to achieve the best outcomes. In a similar way, policies that affect patients and families, such as the visitor guidelines, are not “one-size-fits-all.” The Patient and Guest Experience team periodically reviews these policies with all stakeholders to address the best interests of patients and families, while still maintaining safety for all.

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