Our top priority is to make sure everyone – patients and staff – is safe when they come to our hospitals.
Anyone who enters our buildings must wear a medical grade mask, perform proper hand hygiene (clean their hands) regularly, and practise social distancing.
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
Patients and visitors over the age of two must wear a medical grade mask at all times. Personal cloth masks are not permitted at our hospitals. Individuals with personal cloth masks will be asked to change their mask to a medical grade mask provided by the hospital. Masks and hand sanitizer are available at the entrances, registration desk, concierge desk, and clinical areas for everyone to use.
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 – New! Effective December 20, 2022
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 the following guidelines will still be in effect.
Visitors must:
- Keep their mask on for the entire duration of their visit in hospital
- Clean their hands well and frequently while in hospital
- Stay with the patient they are visiting at all times
- Not eat or drink in hospital in-patient rooms as masks must remain on. Designated areas for eating at Markham Stouffville Hospital are the Tim Hortons on the main level and Ronald McDonald House.
Should there be an outbreak within the hospital, visitors may be restricted.
Visitors will not be permitted to enter or remain within Oak Valley Health facilities if they:
- are non-compliant with policies
- present with COVID-19 signs and symptoms
- are in self-isolation; and/or
- are in quarantine (as per Public Health)
Oak Valley Health reserves the right to take appropriate action to enforce compliance with our visitor and masking 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: 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.