Feb

24

ECH Expands Visiting Hours

Elizabethtown, NY -- The University of Vermont Heath Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital announced today visiting hours for hospitalized patients have been expanded. Limited visitation is now permitted from 2:00 to 6:00 pm.

“We are pleased to see community transmission rates dropping,” said Julie Tromblee, vice president and chief nursing officer at Elizabethtown Community Hospital, “and to be able to allow more time for patients to see their loved ones. We know that loved ones play an important role in the healing process. ”

The updated visitor policy includes the following conditions to maintain a safe environment of care for patients and staff:

  • Visitors are required to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, fever, and/or loss of taste or smell).
  • Visitors must have their temperature taken.
  • Visitors with COVID-like symptoms or a fever of 100.0, will not be permitted to enter the facility.
  • Visitors will be provided a procedure mask and must wear it for the duration of the visit. Cloth masks, vented masks, gaiters and bandanas are not permitted.  Procedure masks are available at entry points. 
  • Appropriate protective equipment and hand hygiene practices are required. Visitors must wash hands or use hand sanitizer before entering a patient’s room.
  • Visitors are asked to limit time in common areas and maintain social distancing.
  • Visitors may visit between 2:00 and 6:00 PM.
  • One designated visitor is permitted for the length of the patient’s hospitalization.
  • Visitors must be 18 years of age.

Special considerations for pediatric patients, end of life care patients, and patients with an intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disability are included in the updated visitor policy. One support person, deemed essential to the patient’s care, will be allowed to accompany patients in the emergency department and in outpatient specialty clinics. Support persons must adhere to the guidelines above.

For more information, please visit ECH.org or call 518-873-3008.

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About Elizabethtown Community Hospital

The University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital is a designated critical access hospital and the primary health care provider serving residents in Essex County and northern Warren and Washington Counties in New York.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is transforming rural health care at its main campus in Elizabethtown, NY, at a new emergency department and outpatient center in Ticonderoga, NY, and at six community-based primary health care centers located throughout the region. The hospital is one of the community’s largest employers with 350 employees.

Across the Elizabethtown and Ticonderoga campuses, the hospital maintains two 24-hour emergency rooms, a 25-bed inpatient unit, physical therapy, laboratory, and digital radiology departments; and a variety of specialty physician clinics on a weekly and monthly basis.  

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is licensed and certified by the New York State Department of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About The University of Vermont Health Network
The University of Vermont Health Network is an academic health system that is comprised of six affiliate hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group, and a home health agency. We serve the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives.  Our partners include:

Our 4,000 health care professionals are driven to provide high quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to the University of Vermont, each of our hospitals remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly skilled experts.

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