Baton Rouge General to Allow Limited Visitation

BATON ROUGE, La. – Starting today, Baton Rouge General will allow one visitor per patient with specific guidelines to ensure the continued safety of patients, staff and visitors. When admitted to the hospital, each patient will provide the name of one essential visitor who will be allowed to visit from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

General Guidelines

• Visitors must be over the age of 18
• Visitors will enter through Entrance 3 at Bluebonnet and the Main Entrance at Mid City, where they will receive a visitor identification armband
• Visitor will be reminded of the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and asked not to visit if they are experiencing any of them
• Visitors will be asked to wear a mask while walking to the patient’s room. Once in the room, they will be asked to wear a mask when a healthcare provider enters the room
• Visitors are expected to go directly to the patient’s room and to remain there during visitor hours, except for short trips to the cafeteria or coffee shop
• Visitation policy applies to patients who are COVID negative

Surgery

One visitor can accompany the patient to the patient’s room in Same Day Surgery. Once a patient has been taken back to surgery, the visitor can wait in the Same Day Surgery waiting area. After surgery, the visitor will meet with the surgeon to discuss their loved one’s surgery.

• For outpatient surgeries, the visitor will be then allowed to go back to the patient’s surgery room until the patient is ready to be discharged.

• For inpatient surgeries, the visitor will be allowed to visit the patient in recovery, if patient condition warrants, and
• will be allowed to spend the night the day of surgery. Starting the next day, they will follow regularly scheduled visiting hours.

• For surgery patients who are COVID positive, one visitor will be allowed to see their loved one at the surgery desk immediately before the patient is taken to the operating room. The visitor can then wait in the Same Day Surgery waiting area and meet with the surgeon after their loved one’s surgery. After that, the visitor will be required to leave the hospital and will be called to pick up their loved one after recovery.

Intensive Care Unit

• One visitor will be allowed to visit their loved one for one hour per day at a designated time coordinated by the ICU staff.
• On their first visit, an ICU staff member will meet the visitor at Entrance 3 and escort them to the patient room.
• For patients who are COVID positive, there will not be visitation at this time

BRG had a no-visitor policy in place since the end of March, but on May 18 started allowing patients undergoing surgery to have one visitor with them for a portion of their stay.

For more on BRG’s visitor policy, visit brgeneral.org.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with 588 licensed beds between two campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. An accredited teaching hospital since 1991, Baton Rouge General serves as an affiliate of Tulane University School of Medicine, and offers other medical education programs, including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter at @BRGeneral.

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