DOH Policy Regarding Hospital Visitation Procedures

The Department of Health (Department) has received questions and requests for guidance from hospitals, health systems, and their representatives on their responses to Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and whether measures being implemented or contemplated are compliant with the statutory and regulatory requirements under the jurisdiction of the Department.

In a document released May 12, 2020, the Department’s guidance includes the following language regarding visitor policies:

The Department strongly encourages that a hospital’s visitor policy allow for a patient support person at the patient’s bedside for patients in labor and delivery; pediatric patients; and patients for whom the hospital determines a support person is essential to the care of the patient, including patients with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and patients with cognitive impairments such as dementia. Hospitals do not need the Department’s approval to implement a new visitor policy in response to COVID-19.