Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) is moving to the Red Zone – Phase 1 of its visitor restrictions beginning Friday, March 12. Visitors can begin booking today – March 11 – for visits resuming tomorrow.
These visitor restrictions are a safety measure to limit non-essential entry to the health centre, contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect patients, visitors and care teams. Exceptions will be made for compassionate reasons, such as critical or palliative patients; patients who require the presence of an essential support person; partners of patients in labour; parents of paediatric patients or at the discretion of the care team.

“We recognize the important role a loved one plays in a patient’s recovery and we are now once again permitting limited visitors into the building,” says Janice Skot, RVH president and CEO. “Safety remains RVH’s highest priority, so these strict measures will remain in place until it is safe to once again gradually allow more visitors.”

In this phase of the visitation plan, admitted patients will be permitted one visitor, once a week for one hour during specific, pre-booked blocks of time.

  • The visitation plan includes the following protocols:
  • Each admitted patient will identify one visitor (minimum 16 years of age) and an alternate to minimize the number of people entering the health centre.
  • Visiting times will be scheduled in advance by the calling the inpatient unit directly by 6 a.m. on the day of the visit or the day prior.
  • Patients will be allowed one visitor, once a week during one of the daily visitation blocks; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 5 to 8 p.m. daily. Mental Health visiting hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Visits will be limited to one hour at a time.
  • All visitors will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and those who fail screening will be denied entry to the health centre.
  • Visitors must now wear a hospital-provided face mask at all times. Cloth masks or any other face covering brought from home will not be accepted.
  • To ensure safe physical distancing all visitors must maintain at least two metres distance between patients and members of the care team at all times.
  • Visitors must follow safety precautions such as hand-washing and wearing of Personal Protective Equipment, if required.
  • Visitors must go directly to and from the unit they are visiting and should not use common areas of the building, other than designated washrooms.
  • Ambulatory patients coming to RVH’s Emergency department or for an outpatient procedure or clinic visit will be allowed one essential support person if assistance is needed. That support person should be identified at the time the appointment/treatment is booked.
  • In Emergency, visitors will continue to be restricted unless patients require assistance such as communication, end-of-life or mental health support.
  • For more information, please visit the RVH website – www.rvh.on.ca.