Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center releases new guidelines, screening for visitors

By Kathryn Dunn | editor@claremont-courier.com

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) released new guidelines for visitors to the hospital in an effort to protect public health in the wake of a patient who tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus.

Hospital administrators said that effective immediately, the visitor restrictions and screening processes are in place at the hospital:

“1. Visitation is limited:

• No visitors to inpatient areas including medical-surgical units, telemetry units, critical care or intensive care units and observation units

• No children under the age of 14

• No children under the age of 18 in the pediatric unit or the neonatal intensive care units (healthy parents may visit at the same time)

• Only one healthy visitor for patients in the labor, delivery, postpartum and recovery units

• Only one healthy visitor for all patients having procedures, including surgery, outpatient surgery, GI lab, radiology, catheterization lab, etc.

• Only one healthy visitor for all emergency department patients

• Exceptions to the policy may be made for those patients receiving end-of-life care or who have extraordinary circumstances

• No community visitors will be permitted to the hospital’s cafeteria for the sole purpose of dining

2. Any visitor who exhibits signs and symptoms of illness may not visit hospitalized patients

Screening Processes

All Arriving Patients and Visitors

• The hospital is screening patients and visitors at all hospital entrances. Upon arrival, designated staff will ask a series of questions to identify travel status and if patients and visitors are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Patients with Appointments

• Patients who have appointments at the hospital will receive a phone call prior to their appointment in which a designated hospital representative will perform the screening.

As a reminder, you may see our Associates wearing masks in the hospital. This measure is to protect the health and safety of our patients and visitors, per recommended infection prevention guidelines.”

PVHMC is located at Garey Ave., in Pomona. For the must up-to-date information from the hospital regarding COVID-19, please visit https://www.pvhmc.org/Patients-Visitors/Patient-Information/Infection-Prevention-and-Epidemiology/Coronavirus.aspx.