UNC Rockingham Health Announces Heightened Restrictions for Hospital Visitors
EDEN—March 23, 2020 --UNC Rockingham Health Care is committed to patient-centered, safe care throughout all of our hospitals and health care facilities, and it is prepared to receive patients with COVID-19 who require emergency or inpatient care.
To do so as safely as possible, UNC Rockingham Health Care is limiting the risk of exposure for patients, caregivers and employees by enacting more stringent restrictions for visitors.
Visitors
Effective Tuesday, March 24 at 7 a.m., no visitors will be permitted at UNC Rockingham Heath Care other than:
One visitor will be allowed for:
- Pediatric patient
- Partner of a laboring mother
- Emergency Department companion
- Outpatient area companion
- In-person discharge instructions
- 24 hours following a surgery or invasive procedure
The number of visitors for end-of-life situations will be determined on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, a caregiver may be allowed for patients where a family member or significant other is essential to patient care. These decisions will be made by the care team. No visitors under the age of 18 will be allowed to visit for the foreseeable future. Visitors who are over 65, pregnant or immunocompromised are discouraged from visiting.
Additional restrictions are as follows:
- The number of entrances to the hospital will be limited. All visitors and patients, including vendors and contractors, will be screened at designated entry points, including the Emergency Department.
- Any visitors who are allowed must pass a health screening. Visitors should not visit our campus if they have one or more of the following symptoms—fever, cough or shortness of breath—or have come into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
· Patients under COVID-19 investigation may not have any visitors, unless compassionate care is approved.
These restrictions have been put in place to protect everyone’s safety. The best scientific data and expertise inform us that “social distancing” is an essential element in successful efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
About UNC Health
UNC Health is an integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and to provide state-of-the-art patient care.
UNC Health is comprised of UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, ranked consistently among the best medical centers in the country; the UNC School of Medicine, a nationally eminent research institution; Pardee UNC Health Care in Hendersonville; Chatham Hospital in Siler City; Johnston Health in Clayton and Smithfield; UNC Lenoir Health Care in Kinston; Wayne UNC Health Care in Goldsboro; Caldwell UNC Health Care in Lenoir; Nash UNC Health Care in Rocky Mount; UNC Rockingham Health Care in Eden, Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, UNC REX Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County; and the UNC Physicians Network. For more information, please visit www.unchealthcare.org.
