RALEIGH COUNTY, W.Va. — Raleigh General Hospital is one of the first hospitals in West Virginia to begin to lift restrictions on hospital visitors implemented to limit coronavirus spread.
For weeks, a zero-visitor policy had been in place at Raleigh General.
However, beginning this week, certain patients have been permitted to have one well visitor per day.
The decision for limited visitation was partly based on a “lower than expected volume of COVID-19” in the region Raleigh General serves, hospital officials said.
“We felt comfortable that we had run all the traps in terms making sure that we were going to continue to be able to protect our patients, providers and employees and felt like it was time to start letting some people back in,” said Matt Roberts, Raleigh General CEO.
As of Friday morning, information from the state Department of Health of Human Resources showed seven active cases of COVID-19 out of the 15 known cases confirmed in Raleigh County dating back to March.
A total of 3,691 people had been tested with no COVID-19 deaths in Raleigh County.
Roberts said the three COVID-19 patients treated at Raleigh General since the start of the pandemic had recovered and were home.
Under the latest policy changes, the Raleigh General patients who could have a single visitor included inpatients, patients having surgeries and other procedures, emergency room patients and obstetric patients.
Visitors had to be age 12 or older, screened upon entry and arrive with their own masks or other face coverings which were to be worn at all times while inside the facility.
Inpatient visitor hours were from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Visitors who could not pass screenings were being asked to reschedule their visits until they were symptom-free.
Additional visitor changes, Roberts said, would depend on the trajectory of COVID-19 cases.
“I think it’s a wait-and-see,” he told MetroNews. “We’re just going to continue to be conservative and, as the opportunities present to further open our facility, we will slowly open even more and more things.”
As of Friday, visitors were still not allowed for high-risk, isolation, immunocompromised or respiratory patients who were under observation or those who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Also not allowed were visitors for patients coming in for lab work and imaging.
Going forward, “Our biggest focus is on protecting our patients, our employees and our providers,” Roberts said.
Roberts estimated Raleigh General had resumed services to between 80 percent and 90 percent of pre-COVID levels at the close of May.
Hospital information showed no-visitor policies with just a few exceptions continued at facilities for WVU Medicine, Charleston Area Medical Center and others in West Virginia.