GREENVILLE – The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association (GDAHA) announced that area short-term acute care hospitals, including Wayne HealthCare, will implement visitor restrictions in an effort to minimize the spread of respiratory infections to hospital patients, employees and the community.
Due to the early and increased local presence of the seasonal flu virus, the region’s hospitals have opted to implement precautionary measures in order to best protect the health of their patients. The Dayton region has seen an increase in flu activity. Since Dec. 1, 2019 there have been 30 hospitalizations in the region and an increase of 75 percent in outpatient cases.
The visitor restriction policy for area acute care hospitals is:
* No visitation by anyone who is ill with any respiratory symptoms including coughing, fever, chills, headache, vomiting, sore throat, muscle aches or diarrhea.
* No visitation by anyone under the age of 14.
The GDAHA Infection Control Committee will continue to meet weekly to review reported flu cases and flu-related hospitalizations to see if visitor restriction recommendations should be changed or modified.
The exception is if a parent is bringing a child to the hospital for tests or therapy, or to visit a doctor. There are medical necessities where treatment is important, and the visitation restrictions do not apply to children or adults in need of services.
The GDAHA emphasized this is a precautionary measure.
The visitor restrictions are being implemented with the utmost sensitivity and respect to patients and their families. Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel will work with patients on a case-by-case basis to ensure that patients receive the support needed, especially if there is a situation where end of life may be a concern.
GDAHA and its member hospitals have committed resources to protect patients and employees from respiratory infections, which includes the seasonal flu virus. GDAHA works closely with area health departments and member hospitals on these types of health issues.
For more information on flu prevention and treatment, visit www.flu.gov.
