What You Need to Know: Visitation Changes At Northern Light EMMC

The Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center campus here in Bangor has seen an outbreak of the coronavirus that has infected forty-eight people as of Monday afternoon as community transmission around the Bangor region grows larger and larger in potential and verified positive testing. Forty cases are workers of the hospital and eight cases are patients of the hospital.

With increasing confirmations of COVID-19 transmission within the region and directly in the hospital, changes are being put in place to keep staff, patients and the community safer which effects visitation changes to the hospital.

Visitation hours are being reduced to just 2 hours a day, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

In addition to shortened visiting hours, who can visit will also be greatly reduced since the hospital will require most patients to have one selected family member be the visitor throughout the patient's stay. It is also be preferred that that selected family member be of the same household as the patient.

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center states that there will be exceptions to the new limitations for visitors. These exceptions will be for children who are patients, patients who are receiving end-of-life care, patients that are incapacitated or patients who are intubated. In these exceptions two visitors are allowed following approval.

If you are visiting the hospital, you are expected to wear a face mask as you would if going out in public. Expect to be screened for coronavirus symptoms or exposure to coronavirus.

Be mindful as well of the following requests from the hospital:

You are healthy
You are 18 years of age or older
To stay in the room with the patient you are there to visit
Fill out the contact tracing log with each exit and entrance of the patient's room

For more information and to stay up-to-date with these restrictions, visit the 'News & Events' blog page 'Changes for visitors at the Medical Center support patient and community safety' on the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center website.