Community Medical Center Wants No Sick Visitors As Flu Rages

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Amid the continuing flu epidemic, Community Medical Center is urging its visitors to be prudent and stay away from the hospital if they are ill.

But unlike a number of hospitals around the state, officials at the Toms River hospital have not instituted any tight restrictions, according to Jean M. Flaherty, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

"Community Medical Center has not changed its visiting policy" with regard to children, Flaherty said, but has posted information on its website urging everyone who visits to wash their hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer both before and after visiting.

"If you have a cough or respiratory illness, for the safety of your loved ones, please visit on another day. Help us protect our patients by using Facetime, video chat, or another means to communicate," the hospital website says. "If you are immediate family and must visit, you must wear a mask for the entire time that you are in the hospital."

Flaherty did not give specific numbers on how many flu cases Community has seen, but said the volume fluctuates daily.

At Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, which is part of the RWJBarnabas hospital network along with Community, no one under the age of 18 is being allowed to visit, Flaherty said, and they are seeing a higher and more consistent volume of flu cases there.

Hospitals that have barred children have made the decision because children often are contagious with the flu before they begin showing signs of illness, and could put both patients and others at risk. Children also are more susceptible to contracting the flu, even if they've had the flu vaccine.

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