03/28/2024
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FAYETTEVILLE – MAY 24, 2021 – In light of changing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and with COVID-19 vaccinations enabling more people to safely mingle, Cape Fear Valley Health is loosening visitation restrictions. Under the new restrictions that were put in place Thursday, May 20, the majority of Cape Fear Valley Medical Center inpatients, Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center patients, Bladen County Hospital and Hoke Hospital patients may have an unlimited number of visitors between noon and 8 p.m. Visitors must be at least 12 years old, and no more than two visitors at a time are allowed in a patient’s room.

Visitors and patients in all Cape Fear Valley Health facilities and clinics are required to properly wear a mask at all times, with the exception of the HealthPlex facility, which only requires masks for visitors if they have not been fully vaccinated. All visitors will be screened with a brief verbal questionnaire and a temperature scan before being allowed entry. Those who refuse to answer the questions or who have a temperature above 100.3 Fahrenheit will be denied entry.

The health system still has some restrictions in certain parts of the medical center and other locations, as follows:

  • Surgery patients will be allowed one visitor in the pre-op area, but unlimited visitors may wait in the surgical waiting room if arriving with the patient. Once a surgery patient has been admitted, two visitors can go with the patient to their room.
  • In the Emergency Department, one visitor at a time will be allowed once the patient is placed in a room.
  • In the Family Centered Care Unit, patients may have one overnight support person, with unlimited visitors from noon to 8 p.m. and only two visitors in the room at one time. Labor and Delivery patients are allowed three designated support people, all of whom must be at least 16 years old. A doula will count as one of the three allowed people in the room. Support persons are not allowed to switch with other people, though they can leave and return.
  • Pediatrics and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit will allow one overnight parent or guardian at a time, and unlimited visitors from noon to 8 p.m., as long as there are only two visitors in the room at a time.
  • Parents with children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit may come and go at any time, but other visitors are limited to four people between the hours of noon and 8 p.m., with no more than two at a time.
  • Oncology and Oncology clinics will allow up to two visitors at a time, with the exception of the chemotherapy area, where space constraints and immunocompromised patients do not allow for visitation.
  • Outpatient clinics and Fayetteville Ambulatory Surgical Center will allow no more than two visitors per patient.
  • Cape Fear Valley Behavioral Health Care will allow patients two visitors at a time, and visiting hours are 7-9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. on weekends. Once visitors leave the facility, they will not be permitted to return that same day.
  • Long-Term Acute Care (LTAC) patients at Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital are allowed two visitors at a time from noon to 8 p.m., but due to the high vulnerability of that hospital’s patient population, all visitors must be able to show proof of vaccination.
  • COVID-19 patients will now be allowed two visitors per day from 4-8 p.m., and all visitors must wear the required PPE. Visitors to COVID-19 patients will not be allowed to return the same day after they leave.

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