Elizabethtown Community Hospital Eases Visitor Restrictions Effective March 25

Elizabethtown, NY – The University of Vermont Heath Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital is pleased to announce that it is easing restrictions on visitations at its facilities beginning today at 1:30 p.m. Patient visitation was suspended in November in response to the pandemic’s fall surge.

“We understand the important role family and friends play in our patients’ well-being and recovery,” said Julie Tromblee, vice president and chief nursing officer at UVM Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital. “We look forward to welcoming visitors back to our facilities safely and responsibly.”

The hospital’s updated visitation policy is based on New York State Department of Health guidelines, and includes screening of visitors, mask requirements and limiting visiting hours to 4 hours per day: 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., seven days per week.

All visitors should enter through the hospital or health center main entrance and are required to undergo a COVID-19 symptom screening and have their temperature taken. Visitors are required to sign in and provide contact information, and wash their hands before heading directly to the patient’s room. All visitors must wear a mask for the duration of their visit.

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

• Visitors with COVID-like symptoms or a fever of 100.0, will not be permitted to enter our facilities.
• Visitors must follow current New York State guidelines for quarantine. Those who meet criteria for quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 or travel to a restricted state will not be permitted to enter our facilities.
• 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 must be 18 years or older. 

Due to space limitations preventing appropriate social distancing, visitation is still restricted in our Radiology Department, Physical Therapy Departments (including Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation) and Chemotherapy/Infusion Unit except when medically necessary to facilitate care.

Special considerations for pediatric patients, end of life care patients, and patients with an intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disability are included in the 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 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 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:

• 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.