Flu fears fuel fetters on hospital visits

ELGIN -- Provena St. Joseph and Sherman hospitals have joined a growing list of Fox Valley hospitals that have instituted new visitation restrictions to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Provena's new policy went into effect last week. Restrictions include:

• Persons who are ill (including fever, cough, cold symptoms) are not allowed to visit.

• No visitors under the age of 18.

• Patients shall have no more than two visitors on the hospital premises at a time.

• Visitors should wash hands frequently and cover nose and mouth when they cough or sneeze.

• Visitors should follow isolation precautions as directed by the facility.

Sherman put its policy into effect today.

"We have a team working closely with the Kane County Health Department and other area hospitals to monitor the spread of the H1N1 virus and coordinate response efforts," JoAnn Foley, chief emergency preparedness officer for Sherman Health, said in a press release. "We have developed our visitor limitation policy consistent with CDC guidelines."

The temporary policy includes the following guidelines:

• Family and friends who are ill with fever and/or respiratory illness should not visit patients.

• No visitors under the age of 16, except in extraordinary circumstances (as in the case of family members who are critically or terminally ill).

• A patient should have no more than two visitors at a time except in extraordinary circumstances.

• People at high risk for influenza complications, including pregnant women and people with asthma, should not visit for their own protection during the 2009 influenza season.

Sherman said it may revise the policy depending on patient volume and further discussions with the health department and other area hospitals.

"By temporarily limiting visitors, we can help reduce the spread of the H1N1 virus and provide the highest level of care to our patients," said Linda Deering, chief operating officer of Sherman Health. "We ask for the community's cooperation with this temporary visitor limitation."

Other hospitals have put into place their own variations of visitation policies, including prohibiting anyone who is ill with flu-like symptoms from coming into the hospital, restricting visitors age 18 and younger, limiting the number of visitors per patient, and promoting proper hand and respiratory hygiene.

"Whenever we see an outbreak of a communicable disease, we want to look at how we can protect everyone involved," said Lynn Skelton, infection control nurse at Delnor Hospital in Geneva.

Delnor Hospital is limiting visitors to only those people essential to the well-being of the patient and restricting the number to two visitors per patient. People who may have been exposed to influenza are strongly recommended not to visit the hospital.