St. Joseph's Hospitals Update Visitor Hours As COVID Retreats

WAYNE, NJ — As New Jersey's springtime COVID-19 wave shows signs of retreating, St. Joseph's Health updated the visitor policy for its hospitals.

In early May, St. Joseph's Health tightened its visitor policy, allowing most non-COVID adult patients to have one visitor at a time. The updated regulations will let all non-COVID patients have up to two visitors at once.

Visiting hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. seven days a week. All visitors must check in at the reception desk in the main lobby. Masks remain mandatory.

COVID-positive patients and immunocompromised patients still can't have visitors except under circumstances the care team approves.

Here are the rest of the updated regulations:

• COVID-negative patients can have two visitors (over the age of 12)
• COVID-negative patients receiving end-of-life care may have more than two visitors if the care team approves.
• Two visitors and the patient's significant other are permitted in labor and delivery. No switching is permitted.

St. Joseph's Health has two hospitals: St. Joseph's Wayne Medical Center on the Hamburg Turnpike and St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson.

The Garden State had 726 COVID patients in its hospitals as of Monday, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The agency reported 928 COVID hospitalizations on June 1.