One of the most painful and troubling effects of COVID-19 on our world has been the stories of hospital patients, alone in their beds, succumbing to the virus or other ailments without family or friends by their side.
The idea of a person passing-on without their hand held and a soothing “I love you” was a reality for many since COVID-19 has ravaged America’s health care system.
More locally, hospitals of the Emerald Triangle have initiated a simple protocol that would provide patients and staff protection from COVID-19 transmission while providing patients the opportunity to see the ones they love. The protocol, simple in implementation, requires visitors to present either their vaccine card or a negative COVID-19 test taken in the last 72 hours.
Mendocino County’s Adventist Health Hospitals were the last of the Emerald Counties hospitals to implement this policy, announcing the change today.
A significant body of research has explored the effects of COVID-era’s no-visitor policy on patient outcomes. Published in the journal Surgery, a study entitled, “Impact of visitor restriction rules on the postoperative experience of COVID-19 negative patients undergoing surgery” concluded hospital visitor restriction policies adversely impacted the “postoperative experience of coronavirus disease 2019-negative patients undergoing surgery.”
Another study published in the Patient Experience Journal entitled “The influence of COVID-19 visitation restrictions on patient experience and safety outcomes: A critical role for subjective advocates” compared patient outcomes in hospitals that disallowed all visitation to those that remained unrestricted or partially limited visitation. The findings are astounding. Hospitals that closed down to all visitors “saw most pronounced deficits in their performance with regard to patient ratings of medical staff responsiveness, fall rates, and sepsis rates.” Conversely, hospitals that accommodated visitation saw “visitations were not appreciably different from pre-pandemic performance, and in some cases, performance even improved marginally.” This study’s author concluded their findings “indicate that the policy to allow for visitors, or subjective advocates, individuals with a vested interest in the well-being of the patient, is beneficial not only for the patient but also in sustaining high quality of care.”
Our reporter, Judy Valadao, was hospitalized at Adventist Health Mendocino Coast in October for non-COVID-related health issues where she was told visitors were not allowed. She had to seek emergency care a few weeks after her release and was transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial in Sonoma County for further treatment. She was surprised to learn that in Sonoma County, her family and friends could visit her, as long as they presented a COVID-19 vaccination card or proof of a negative test within the last 72 hours.
This experience prompted our newsroom to conduct an informal survey of other rural hospitals to compare and contrast Adventist Health’s policy to others. We contacted a selection of Emerald Triangle hospitals including Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Jerold Phelps Community Hospital in Garberville, and Trinity Hospital in Weaverville, and came to a realization- hospitalized patients in Mendocino County were the only ones in the Emerald Triangle that we know of being denied the opportunity to have their loved ones visit them during a time they are most needed.
We raised this disparity in policy to Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren during last week’s COVID-19 update. Dr. Coren said he could not speak to the disparity in policies, describing them as rooted in each hospital’s administration, but did say, “We do want to allow people to have visitors.” Speaking to the relationship between visitor policies and patient outcomes, Dr. Coren said, “It has been proven that people do better and it is a more compassionate form of care when patients have family close to them.” He added that each hospital needed to “figure out what is the safest way to do that for the staff and the patients.”
To understand this disparity in policy, we reached out to Jason Wells, the former president of Adventist Health Hospitals in Mendocino County, and now the company’s Chief Strategy, Consumer, and Innovation Officer. To help us understand the decision-making behind Adventist Health’s visitor policy, Wells got us in touch with Dr. Bassan Parker, the Chief Medical Officer of Adventist Health hospitals and clinics in Mendocino County.
Dr. Parker first noted that Adventist Health in Mendocino County has in fact allowed visitors, to a limited capacity. Visitors have been allowed for obstetrics, end-of-life care, pediatrics, and “selected visitors through the emergency department.” Visitors were not allowed in the surgical wards and intensive care units of Adventist Health hospitals, Dr. Parker explained.
Adventist Health’s visitor policy was determined through an analysis of multiple factors, Dr. Parker explained. One metric used to inform Mendocino County’s Adventist Health visitor policies is the Center for Disease Control’s COVID Tier system that provides a sense of the risk of community transmission of the virus.
Mendocino County’s CDC COVID-19 Tier, according to Dr. Parker, has vacillated between red, orange, and occasionally yellow, with each tier representing active community COVID-19 transmission.
Other factors that contribute to Adventist Health’s visitor policies include the amount of COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized, the county’s COVID-19 daily case rate, and vaccination trends in the community
Regarding community vaccinations, Dr. Parker said Mendocino County initially was the third-highest vaccinated county in the state when the vaccines were first made available, but as of now, the vaccination numbers have plateaued.
These factors, when weighed together, told Adventist Health for many months that visitors would only be allowed in a limited capacity.
Then, approximately two weeks ago, Dr. Parker said he and his staff reexamined these metrics and decided, knowing the benefits associated with visitors and patient outcomes, to open their facilities up to all visitors. This policy shift took approximately two weeks to implement, Dr. Parker explained, so staff could be trained on the new protocols and signage could be adapted accordingly.
Starting today, all patients in Mendocino County Adventist Health facilities are allowed visitors. Those visitors are required to present one of three items that represent their COVID-19 risk: a COVID-19 vaccination card, a COVID-19 negative test within the last 72 hours, or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the last 90 days. Masks are required when visiting and all visitors will complete a COVID-19 screening protocol before seeing their loved one. Facilities will be open to visitors from 8:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m.
Speaking to the benefit of this visitation policy, Dr. Parker said patients having visitors is in their best interest. He described the current situation as a “balancing act” between doing what is best for patients while also considering the needs of staff. The nation is experiencing a shortage of medical professionals and if a couple of staff members are quarantined due to COVID-19, Dr. Parker said that could compromise Adventist Health’s ability to care for patients.
As the holidays approach, know that hospitalized patients in Mendocino County can now have the pleasure of seeing their friends and family, up close and personal, bringing some joy into a difficult time.
Isolation lowers the immune system and reduces the will to live. This is not rocket science. A fist bump is not a hug. Our fear of Covid has overwhelmed our humanity.
Great comment Doug! My loved one almost died in the hospital. In isolation. Thank God she had the wherewithal to DEMAND to be let out and come home where her family was able to take care of her, praying over her, and nursing her back to health. The hospital NEEDS the help of loved ones. It’s essential. And yes, it keeps them accountable. And yes, love and prayer change things. ??
Yessir and thank you antibacterial soaps and environments create an environment for rampant disease ?, A good friend and co-worker was fitted with a swine artery to his heart and some swine meat grafting to his lips ? and genitalia, he was in a horrible accident with, as fate would have it a wild swine, a tall man resembling a North Coast Big Red Yeti , tha aforementioned body parts were damaged, being the clean freak that he was and always washing his body and body parts, with an antibacterial soap unfortunately, he was told not to use antibacterial soap and started to rub Yoplait yogurt and probiotic cultures all over his yeti body and for you knew it he was healed and back to himself, long live the Big Red Yeti.
Forced isolation of patients was a Crime Against Humanity from the beginning.
The “policies” were INTENTIONAL. Keeping family-advocates out shielded the “health care” corporations from oversight.
Now if we can get corporate owned media and our government to stop spreading hatred of “the other half” and realize We are in this together and not the enemy…if only?