August 25, 2021

Beginning Monday, August 30, Community Hospital is discontinuing visitation of all inpatients on the patient wing until further notice due to increases in COVID-19 cases in McCook and the area. The decision was made due to a request from patient care staff, according to Molly Herzberg, Vice President Clinical Services and CNO. “We are concerned for our inpatients, who are very vulnerable, but unable to wear a mask during their stay to protect themselves,” she said. “Visitors don’t always comply with mask-wearing rules and we need to protect our patients.”

Each inpatient will be assigned one support person upon admission of the patient with no trading out. Inpatients are also allowed a pastoral visitor. The support person will receive a plastic armband which must remain in place during the entire patient visit. They must wear masks and be screened at the front entrance.

Labor and delivery patients, upon the discretion of the physician, may have two support persons. Siblings living in the same household as the newborn infant may visit for one hour. Siblings must wear a mask into the facility unless under the age of two, and must be screened at the front entrance.

Exceptions for visitors may be made for critical and end-of-life patients at the discretion of nursing service.