UAMS to limit patient visits as covid-19 cases rise

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Little Rock campus is shown in this file photo.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Little Rock campus is shown in this file photo.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will limit patients to one visitor per day in most situations, effective Monday, because of the rise in covid-19 cases, the public hospital announced Friday.

Dr. Steppe Mette, UAMS Medical Center's chief executive officer, said in a statement the hospital will "continue to allow additional visitors for end-of-life situations."

Previously, UAMS' policy allowed all patients to have multiple visitors a day, as long as only one visitor was in the patient’s room at a time, according to a hospital news release.

“We know the importance of family presence for our patients and regret having to make this change, but we were forced to do so in order to protect our patients, staff and visitors," Mette said. "We have already had one patient infected with covid by a visitor. With the workforce shortage hospitals are facing now, we must minimize the risk of infection for our medical staff and care teams.”

UAMS said it is using "digital visitation" to help patients stay connected virtually with family and friends, and it said it is complying with the “No Patient Left Behind Act" to give patients, particularly those "with disabilities and elderly patients who may have dementia or difficulty seeing or hearing," the support they need from loved ones.

"Our staff has worked closely with families over the past 18 months to ensure they have as much contact with their loved ones as possible, and they’ve come up with very creative ways to keep families connected and protected from the spread of covid. We have to be much stricter until covid cases in Arkansas are under control and the number of patients in our hospital decreases dramatically,” Mette's statement said.

The hospital will continue to require visitors to take and pass a daily health screening, and to wear a photo ID badge and face mask. Hospital visitors are also required to stay in the patient’s room at all times.

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