Penn State Health visitation guidelines change Sept. 13

Penn State Health will revise its Tier 1 visitation guidelines to allow two support persons per day to visit non-COVID adult inpatients and adult outpatient surgery patients. The revisions, effective Monday, Sept. 13, also permit two family members or support persons to accompany each labor and delivery and postpartum patient during their stay.

The health system is committed to patient- and family-centered care, a model that that is grounded in strong partnerships between health care providers, patients and families. When family members and support persons are fully engaged in care and decision-making,  patient experiences improve, and clinical outcomes are better.

The decision to allow two support persons for adult inpatients and adult outpatient surgery patients provides flexibility to accommodate work and family responsibilities and ensures patients do not have to face their medical situation alone.

The visitation changes will only be successful if all health system employees vigorously advocate for patients and visitors to heed the health system’s policies of social distancing and masking, which remain two of the safest practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

System policies require all patients, visitors, staff and students to wear masks within the walls and on the grounds of all health system and Penn State College of Medicine facilities.

After a year and a half, employees and faculty have gained the experience and knowledge to navigate and manage COVID-19 patient care safely and appropriately. A critical factor to address the newest surge is staff reinforcement of proper mask wearing — including in patient rooms.

The health system has updated its scripting to help staff communicate visitor guidelines changes and the mask-required policy to patients and support persons. Talking points will be shared with all stakeholders to distribute to their teams.

Patient advisors, infectious diseases specialists, physicians and administrators compose the systemwide Visitation Policy Team that has developed visitation recommendations for the past year and a half.

The team and system leaders constantly assess the health care environment and make adjustments to policies as needed.

If you're having trouble accessing this content, or would like it in another format, please email Penn State Health Marketing & Communications.