Coronavirus - update on visiting

The Connecticut Hospice is striving to keep up with the changing landscape of health care.  We set our policies based on advice from the CDC, the State of Connecticut, Federal agencies, and other hospitals in our region.

We are admitting patients who are COVID positive, in home care and in our inpatient facility.  In the latter, we have a designated area with separate access and egress, plus adequate PPE to ensure the safety of our staff and other patients.  In home care, we see patients both in nursing homes and in their own homes, regardless of COVID status.  Again, we have adequate PPE, and have taught our care workers the proper way to use it. 

Secondly, we are now allowing visitors for all patients, but with the following restrictions: 

• We take everyone’s temperature upon arrival,
• We require masks to be worn at all times,
• We only allow two visitors at a time for each patient. Other visitors must wait in their cars or outside the building; there is no congregating in the lobby, and groups waiting outside must be gathered no greater than five people together.

July 28, 2020 Update on Visiting Policy:

In keeping with the State of Connecticut policy, people coming from states with “a daily positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher test positivity rate for COVID-19 over a 7-day rolling average” must either:

• Quarantine for 14 days, or,
• If visiting is urgent, may enter the facility if they have had a negative viral test (not an antibody test) for COVID-19 in the 72 hours prior to travel

We respectfully decline visiting to the Branford inpatient facility if - 

• You are under advisement by the State of Connecticut to self quarantine. 

  As of July 28, 2020 there are a total of 36 states and territories that meet the criteria and are included in Connecticut's travel advisory. They are:

• • Alaska
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Nebraska
  • New Mexico
  • Nevada
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Puerto Rico
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Wisconsin
• you have been in contact with anyone with possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection (unless you are visiting a patient with known COVID-19 - see below).

For COVID- positive patients:

• We allow 2 visitors per day, during hours from 8 AM to 8 PM, although staying overnight is permitted.
• We ask that visitors inform us when they are leaving, as we have a separate exit for people exposed to COVID. 
• We also use a separate elevator, and do not allow visitors to leave the patient’s room, once inside it. If you need to speak to a nurse or a doctor, you must use the call buzzer.
• Food may be brought in, but must be consumed inside that room. 
• Personal property such as photos will not be permitted to be kept at the bedside.

We want our patients to be able to have visitors, but that depends upon the willingness of all visitors to respect and follow our rules, which have been formulated for the safety of everyone.

As of the most recent phase of Connecticut’s reopening, we are welcoming back our VOLUNTEERS.  While many may choose, based on risk factors, to sit this summer out, we are looking forward to some of those familiar and helpful faces being back in our building and in the homes we serve.  We are especially glad to have our regular four-footed friends return!

We are very grateful, as always, for your referrals to us, and for your support of The Connecticut Hospice.  We invite you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Instagram. There is a lot of information contained on these platforms, and many heartwarming stories to enjoy and share with others. 

It’s a brave new world out there, and we are adjusting to different norms and procedures.  At least one constant remains for us, however, and that is our commitment to the best in palliative and end of life care.  We are grateful for your continued support of that mission. 

Risks for COVID-19 infection include: