KentuckyOne Health Limiting Visitation to Prevent Spread of Flu - Archived

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David McArthur, Senior Manager
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KentuckyOne Health Limiting Visitation to Prevent Spread of Flu
Temporary policy will help protect the safety of patients and employees

Lexington, Ky. (February 16, 2017) – In order to help prevent the spread of flu, KentuckyOne Health facilities in Lexington are limiting visitation with patients, effective February 15, 2017. At Saint Joseph East, The Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East, and Saint Joseph Hospital, visitors who have flu-like symptoms are temporarily being asked to refrain from visiting patients at the hospital until they are symptom-free. In addition, visitors are also being asked to refrain from visiting patients who have flu-like symptoms. This policy is intended to help protect both the safety of patients and employees.

Visitors who are critical to a patient’s well-being and healing process will still be allowed within the hospitals. At The Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East, children under the age of 18 who are symptom-free can visit a newborn sibling in the maternity unit. However, this visitation is restricted to the maternity patient rooms only. Nursery and NICU visitation is restricted to parents only.

“We want to ensure our patients and employees stay healthy during flu season. This temporary policy, which we’ve also instituted in past years, will help us do this,” said Bruce Tassin, president, Saint Joseph Hospital and Lexington market leader for KentuckyOne Health. “We will continue to monitor the flu within our facilities, and will implement additional levels of prevention as needed.”

Visitors may not know they have the flu. Symptoms can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and nasal congestion. To help prevent the spread of flu, cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing into a tissue, avoid coughing and sneezing into your hands, dispose of the tissue into a waste basket, wash your hands with soap and water, use hand sanitizer, or put on a surgical mask to help protect the spread of germs.

Masks will be made available at Saint Joseph East, The Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East, and Saint Joseph Hospital to patients who show symptoms of the flu.

For more information on this temporary policy, visit www.kentuckyonehealth.org/fluprevention. You can reach Saint Joseph Hospital by calling 859.313.1000, and Saint Joseph East/The Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East by calling 859.967.5000.

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations including, hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved. The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.
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