Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers (CHWC) announced Thursday that, due to a surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Williams County, the organization will be restricting visitors from entering their facilities, with some exceptions. Visitor restriction will begin the morning of Friday, November 13, 2020 and will remain in place until further notice.
“This local surge in cases of COVID-19 has put Williams County at a high level of risk, and it is our responsibility as a community hospital to do all we can to keep our patients, staff and the community as safe and healthy as possible during this pandemic,” said Chad Tinkel, President and CEO at CHWC.
Tinkel noted that the policy will have some flexibility to allow parents/guardians of pediatric patients, caretakers of dependent adult patients, one support person per oncology patient and one visitor per OB patient in labor to enter CHWC facilities. Other exceptions may be approved by CHWC leadership on a case by case basis.
“To our patients whose experience at CHWC will be impacted by our visitor policy, we want to say that we are sympathetic to what you are going through. But safety absolutely has to be our top priority, and as long as this virus is prevalent and widespread in our community, we have to take the proper steps to reduce risk as much as possible,” Tinkel said.