Our top priority is to make sure everyone – patients and staff – is safe when they come to our hospitals.
Entering our hospitals
- Patients will be screened at time of registration using existing screening questions.
- Visitors will be asked to self-screen before they enter our hospitals. Visitors who have tested positive for COVID-19 by PCR or RAT in the past 10 days or have any COVID-19 related symptoms are asked not to visit our hospitals.
Masking at our hospitals
Updated masking guidelines
Effective Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Masks will no longer be required for all direct patient encounters at Oak Valley Health. This includes Markham Stouffville Hospital, Uxbridge Hospital, and Reactivation Care Centre.
Consistent with IPAC best practices, masks and other appropriate personal protective equipment will continue to be required to prevent the spread of illness, such as:
- During an outbreak in a specific area of the hospital
- According to your point-of-care risk assessment
- When a patient is on additional precautions for a specific reason (e.g., measles)
We remain a mask-friendly environment. While we may be lifting masking requirements, you may choose to remain masked and we support those individual decisions with kindness, consideration, and respect for all.
Mask dispensers will remain at the entrances of our hospitals for those who need one. Patients experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms are asked to put on a mask upon entry to the hospital.
Visitor vaccination
Vaccination is no longer required for visitors. It is strongly recommended that all visitors and patients are fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. Vaccinations are one of the best forms of protection against serious illness of COVID-19 and vaccination lowers transmission of the disease.
Visitor policy
We know how important visitors are to our patients while they are in hospital. We have worked hard to balance safety considerations with supporting the care needs of our patients and their loved ones through the pandemic. We are updating our visitor policy to ensure 24/7 family presence, however, should there be an outbreak within the hospital, visitors may be restricted.
Oak Valley Health reserves the right to take appropriate action to enforce compliance with our visitor policies.
Please see below for detailed information about visiting:
Visitor guidelines
- Generally, visiting hours are 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Some exceptions may apply at the discretion of the unit or department. Please contact the department directly: Emergency Department, Inpatient Mental Health, Childbirth and Children’s Services and AMU (Labour and Delivery), Intensive Care Unit
Appeals to the visitor policy
If you would like to pursue an exception to the visitor policy, please contact the Patient Relations office via email at patientrelations@oakvalleyhealth.ca, 905-472-7141.