Calls to loosen visitor restrictions in hospitals grow as vaccinations rise

OTTAWA -

With vaccination rates rising every day in Ontario, some people are calling for hospitals to loosen visitor rules, saying it could have a huge impact for everyone.

Blythe McKay just recently spent 12 days alone in the hospital.

“I didn’t realize how much having my husband and my mom there helped, until I had to go it alone,” says McKay. “I’ve had several hospitalizations as a result of Crohn’s disease. And this was particularly striking on how different it was.”

She says not being able to have visitors is hard on her mental and physical health.

“I just found out that I’m likely going to have to have surgery in a few months,” says McKay. “And I really hope that things change because I feel that my recovery will definitely be assisted by having my husband be able to be with me.”

Time for a change, Toronto doc says

For the past 16 months, hospitals have been limiting visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions. Dr. Michael Warner, the medical director of critical care at the Michael Garron hospital in Toronto, says it’s time for a change.

“We need to update our visitor policies. We need to open hospitals up,” says Warner. “We’re now in the vaccine era. Most patients, health care workers and visitors are vaccinated. It’s a completely different situation.”

Warner says the benefits can have a positive impact on patient recovery.

“It’s much better for patients,” says Warner. “They have an advocate with them. Someone who can listen to the doctors and nurses and take notes. Someone who can provide care when there's no one to provide care for them.”

Slow return for visitors to Ottawa Hospital

The Ottawa Hospital says they are slowly letting visitors back.

“The Ottawa Hospital recently moved into intermediate visitor restrictions, which means that the hospital can welcome a maximum of one scheduled visitor per patient per day.”

They add, “We will continue to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 situation in our community and make adjustments to visitor restrictions as necessary.”

Jennifer Zelmer, CEO of Healthcare Excellence Canada, a company that focuses on improving healthcare for everyone in Canada, adds that visitors help patients in a variety of ways.

“There’s psychological benefits obviously. But there’s also very practical benefits in terms of care delivery,” says Zelmer. “We know that having essential care partners does things like reducing the risk of falls and improves continuity of care, because you’ve got more than one person listening to what happens after you leave the hospital. Or (care partners) can help bring important information to the clinical care team and to clinical care.”

Not only does allowing visitors benefit the current patients, Dr. Warner says it can also help those who might need medical treatment moving forward.

“I think people are more likely to come to the hospital if they know they won't be alone,” says Warner. “Which will limit the amount of late presentation disease that we’re seeing.”