Masks Required in Norton Children’s Hospitals and Select Facilities

Norton Healthcare continues to evaluate local and national data and the current status of COVID-19 cases throughout our community to guide our protocols and practices. While our community level remains low, the transmission level of COVID-19, as detailed in the Centers for Disease Control & Preventio​​n (CDC) COVID Data Tracker, remains high in Jefferson County.

DNV, our hospital accrediting agency, has recommended Norton Healthcare require all employees, patients and visitors to wear masks in areas of our hospitals and select facilities where patients may be present, regardless of vaccination status. This update affects:

This policy does not affect primary care and urgent care locations.

Important Information for All Visitors

• All visitors must be 12 or older, unless a special exception is granted.
• Anyone who is ill is asked to not visit or accompany patients.
• If a visitor displays unsafe, threatening or aggressive behavior, or impedes care, intentionally or not, appropriate measures will be taken to protect our patients and staff.

Norton Children’s Visitor Policy

Norton Children’s Inpatient

• Primary caregivers: Up to two designated primary caregivers for the length of the admission. Primary caregivers must be age 18 or older unless they are the parents/guardians of the patient. Primary caregivers will have their fingerprints registered with the visitor management system so they can access the unit and visit the child at any time.
• Secondary caregivers/visitors: Up to four designated secondary caregivers/visitors may visit between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. for the length of the child’s admission. Secondary caregivers/visitors may include siblings age 12 or older.
• Only two individuals are allowed to be at the bedside at any given time. One must be 18 or older.
• Pediatric patients who have pending COVID-19 tests or have tested positive for COVID-19 may have two designated visitors.
• One clergy member may be designated for the length of the admission and may visit between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Caregivers/visitors will be required to successfully complete a health screening form daily and receive a visitor’s pass for the day.
• Compassionate visitation exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Norton Children’s Outpatient including Norton Children’s Medical Center (Emergency/Surgery/Testing)

• No one under age 12 may accompany a patient for outpatient services.
• Two visitors may accompany the pediatric patient.

Norton Children’s Medical Group Doctor’s Offices

• Two visitors may accompany the pediatric patient; one must be a parent or guardian

Norton Healthcare Adult Facilities

Adult Hospitals including their Outpatient Departments, Surgery and Emergency Departments

• All adult hospital patients may have two visitors at a time, age 12 or older, 24/7.
• During labor and delivery, you also may have a properly credentialed doula as part of your care team.
• For patients in isolation:
  • Two visitors, age 12 or older, for most isolation patients, including those in COVID-19 isolation.
    • No visitor for patients who are on “continuous” aerosolizing therapies, including BiPAP and Vapotherm.
  • All visitors must strictly follow personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines and must stay in the patient’s room throughout the visit.
  • All visitors must leave the room during any aerosolizing procedures.
• Compassionate visitation exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Doctors’ Offices and Outpatient Medical Center Appointments for Adults, Including Norton Cancer Institute

Two visitors per adult patient.

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About Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital

Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital provides highly skilled, compassionate care in a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the unique needs of women and children. Named one of the Best Places to Give Birth in America by FitPregnancy.com, Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital offers a wide range of medical services for women and children in a family-centered, nurturing environment at its St. Matthews campus, which is uniquely designed to promote a sense of healing. The hospital also provides high-quality emergency, inpatient and outpatient care for men. Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital provides the following services for children and adolescents:

• Pediatric emergency services
• Renovated operating rooms, including four pediatric operating rooms
• A redesigned 40-bed Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
• A 14-bed inpatient pediatric unit
• Diagnostic imaging and testing capabilities for children
• Child life specialists and pet therapy
• Marshall Family Pediatric Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center
• Pediatric Sleep Center
• Urology specialists
• Gynecology specialists
• Maternal Fetal Medicine specialists
• Music therapy services for infants in the NICU
• Norton Neuroscience Institute Headache & Concussion Center

Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital, a 363-bed, full-service hospital and medical campus, is dedicated to the unique needs of women and children while continuing to provide emergency, inpatient and outpatient care for men.