Elizabethtown, NY – The University of Vermont Heath Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital is pleased to announce its visitor policy has been expanded in accordance with New York State Department of Health guidelines. Beginning today, the hospital will resume visitation with added precautions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.   

“The support of family is essential to the wellbeing of our patients,” said Julie Tromblee, vice president and chief nursing officer at UVM Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital. “And with the right precautions, like symptom and temperature checks, proper protective equipment, and hand hygiene, we can safely allow patients to connect with their loved ones in person.”

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

• 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 mask and must wear it for the duration of the visit.
• Appropriate protective equipment and hand hygiene practices are required. Visitors must wash hands or use hand sanitizer before entering a patient’s room.
• Only one visitor is permitted at a time for each patient. Up to two visitors may visit a patient per day.
• Visitors are asked to limit time in common areas and maintain social distancing.
• Visitors may visit between 12:00 and 7:00 PM, for up to four hours.
• Visitors must be 18 years of age.

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. 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.

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 the 39,000 people who live, work and vacation in Essex County, NY and the surrounding region.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is transforming rural health care at its main campus in Elizabethtown, NY, at a new emergency department and outpatient center at the former Moses Ludington Hospital 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 360 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:

• The University of Vermont Medical Center  
• The University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health and Hospice

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.