Safety First:
Visitor Policy Update August 9, 2021
As of Monday, August 9, 2021, Forrest City Medical Center will be enforcing the following COVID-19 protocols. These measures are in an effort to combat the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area.
- For COVID-19 Patients:
- No visitors will be allowed in the facility for COVID-19 patients except for end-of-life and other special circumstances as determined by medical staff on a case-by-case basis.
- iPads and twice daily phone calls will be used for patients to communicate with family.
- Medical staff will also stay in communication with the families of COVID-19 patients.
- One parent or guardian will be allowed in the Emergency Department with a pediatric patient.
- For Non-COVID-19 Patients:
- Non-COVID patients will be allowed one visitor per patient, per day. Visitation for non-COVID patients will be between the hours of 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day on the medical surgical department.
- Visitors will be screened at the Emergency Department entrance and given an arm band dated for that day ONLY, as well as the patient room number. Arm bands are only valid for the day dated and must be reissued each day.
- One visitor will be allowed in the Emergency Department with non-COVID patients. The same visitor must remain for the entire ER visit and must stay with the patient or in designated areas as directed by hospital staff.
- Labor and Delivery & Surgical patients will be allowed one visitor for the duration of their stay. The same visitor must remain for the entire stay and must stay with the patient or in designated areas as directed by hospital staff.
- General Public:
- The hospital and cafeteria will be closed to the general public until further notice. All traffic into the facility must enter through the Emergency Department for screening purposes.
- Masks will be required for anyone entering the facility, regardless of vaccination status.
“Please understand that we are still open, safe, and ready to offer quality care to Forrest City and the surrounding communities. These measures are to ensure that we remain open, safe, and ready in the long term,” explained Ballard. “In our last update to the community, we asked people to wear their masks and to get vaccinated and we would monitor the situation from there. Against what we had hoped, the situation is that cases are rising and until vaccination rates rise to meet the case numbers, our main doors will remain closed to the general public.”