Submitted by Amanda Falcone, Middlesex Health
(September 1, 2022) —–Middlesex Health is lifting its visitor restrictions. The changes are in effect as of Thursday, September 1, 2022.
These changes are being made because of feedback from patients and visitors and because the health system has the proper safety protocols in place, such as requiring all patients, staff and visitors to wear masks.
Middlesex Health will no longer limit the number of people allowed to visit a patient, and COVID-19 positive patients will now be allowed visitors. The minimum age requirement to visit a patient is also changing. Visitors can now be two years old or older.
These changes apply to all Middlesex Health locations, including Middlesex Hospital, satellite outpatient locations and ambulatory settings, with two exceptions: the Middlesex Health Pregnancy & Birth Center and the health system’s inpatient behavioral health unit.
Per federal guidelines, all visitors must continue to wear a face mask at all times while at a Middlesex Health facility. This includes while visiting patients in hospital rooms. Visitors will also continue to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms upon arrival.
Visiting hours at Middlesex Hospital, located at 28 Crescent Street in Middletown, are 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. — both on weekdays and during the weekend. Visitors must register at the front desk in the hospital lobby.
Visiting hours for Middlesex Hospital’s inpatient behavioral health unit are different. Patients staying on this unit may receive visitors seven days a week from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. These patients will be allowed two visitors at a time.
Middlesex Health’s Pregnancy & Birth Center patients are now allowed two visitors at a time in a patient room, plus a primary support person. Two additional visitors may wait in a nearby waiting room until it is their turn to see a patient. Siblings are welcome to visit their parents as long as they are two years old or older.
Some individuals are allowed to visit Middlesex Hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including:
- Emergency Department visitors
- Individuals making compassionate visits
- Individuals visiting patients with disabilities as a designated support person to support disability needs
- Birthing partners for the Pregnancy & Birth Center
- Visitors accompanying pediatric patients
- Clergy
If these visitors arrive when the hospital lobby is closed, they should go to the hospital’s Emergency Department main entrance.
For more information about Middlesex Health’s revised visitor policy, visit MiddlesexHealth.org/visitorpolicy. As it has done throughout the pandemic, Middlesex Health continues to monitor what is happening at its facilities and throughout the state. It will make adjustments to its visitor policy as needed.
