DMC, Children's Hospital change visitor guidelines due to rising flu cases
FOX 2 (WJBK) - An uptick in flu cases has caused the Detroit Medical Center to implement new visitor guidelines at all facilities, including Children's Hospital of Michigan, it announced on Monday.
The guidelines went into effect today and include that all patients may have only two visitors at a time and that young visitors won't be allowed on inpatient hospital floors.
"Flu cases have been increasing across the United States," said Dr. Teena Chopra, MPH, Detroit Medical Center. ""According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan influenza activity is also now increasing rapidly. In this period of increased influenza activity in the community, we made these changes for the safety and care of our patients."
The following visitation guidelines in effect are:
All patients are allowed up to two visitors at any one time.
Visitors ages 12 and under, including siblings and other relatives, will not be allowed on inpatient hospital floors or in the observation units.
Visitors ages 13 and over who have a fever, cough or rash are asked to choose another time to visit. This applies to both private and semi-private rooms. If hospitals have policies that are more restrictive than the proposed guidelines, they will continue to use them.
Visitors who exhibit illness or cold symptoms are encouraged to visit during a period of wellness.
The rules mimic recent changes at three Metro Detroit Corewell Health hospitals. Last week Corewell issued altered guidelines for pediatric unit visitors due to a rise in respiratory illnesses.
At Corewell young patients at the hospitals at the Dearborn, Royal Oak, and Troy hospitals are only allowed to have two visitors at the bedside during the day and one visitor overnight.
Visitor guidelines can also be found on the DMC website at DMC.org.