Concord Coronavirus: Hospital To Limit, Screen Patient Visitors

CONCORD, NH — In effort to protect patients for possible infection of the new coronavirus, Concord Hospital is making a number of changes to its patient visitor policies — due to the highly contagious nature of the virus. To protect the health and safety of patients and staff, "we are restricting patient visitors with a few exceptions," according to Jennifer Dearborn, the director of public affairs of the hospital. The changes will begin at midnight on Tuesday — at the recommendation of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and due to "increased activity" of COVID-19 in the state.

The exceptions include parents or guardians only of pediatric patients, the partner only of maternity patient, and patients, at the end of life, can have one visitor at a time, Dearborn said.

All allowed visitors will be screened at each hospital entrance.

Other Changes

Other changes will also be made including the following:

• Anyone bringing patients for outpatient services will need to drop off and pick up the patient, not wait in the hospital or a patient care unit.
• Community members are restricted from the hospital cafeteria.
• Patients and allowed visitors may only enter at one of the hospital’s following entrances: main entrance, visitors entrance, emergency department, wound healing center and the Payson Center for Cancer Care.
• The hospital is also suspending all hospital volunteers until further notice.
• Students from any outside schools/programs are being restricted from the organization through the end of March.
• All classes and support groups held at Concord Hospital and Concord Hospital Center for Health Promotion are canceled until further notice.

Also, the hospital is asking all primary care patients to contact their provider with concerns and questions about the virus and their health. People who do not have a primary care provider should seek care at Concord Hospital Walk-In Urgent Care or another outpatient practice. Community members should only use the hospital’s emergency department for truly emergent needs, according to Dearborn.

What You Can Do

COVID-19, not unlike the flu and other respiratory illnesses, is spread through respiratory droplets, usually through coughing and sneezing, and exposure to others who are sick or might be showing symptoms. Take the same precautions as you would if you were sick:

• Stay home and avoid public places when sick (i.e. social distancing).
• Cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
• Wash hands frequently.
• Disinfect frequently touched surfaces.

More information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services about coronavirus can be found here on the department's website.

• Guidance to schools can be found can be found here.
• Instructions for returning travelers to self-observe for symptoms of COVID-19 are available are available here.
• For more information on COVID-19 in NH, visit its site here.
• For the latest information from the CDC, visit its site here.

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