Visitors to the hospital may have recently noticed a new sign by the main entrance announcing changes to visitation hours.
The University Hospital of Northern BC's sign indicated its visiting hours would change to 10 a.m.-noon and 5-8 p.m. as part of a pilot project.
However, when contacted Friday by The Citizen for details, a Northern Health spokesperson stated that these new changes will not be taking place on Monday after all.
The hospital was unable to confirm whether the changes are delayed or permanently abandoned. The page announcing the change was removed from the UHNBC website Friday. Another page was updated to state this: "Please check in with the unit before visiting to determine the best time for your visit and what you should do when you arrive."
In a later email, Northern Health stated: "UHNBC is continuing to work to balance the need for optimal patient care planning and provision of care and improved after hours safety for patients and staff, with the ongoing need for - and benefit to patients from - the support of their family and friends. Should this result in any changes to public access to the facility outside of current visiting guidance, we will keep the community informed."
So why were these new changes being considered? According to a press release from Northern Health, these changes would have been made for staff to plan patient care needs around visitation, limit interruptions to patient care, decrease traffic on the floors, allow patients more opportunities to rest and heal and improve safety within the UHNBC facility after hours for staff and patients.
Families exempt from these changes would be ones that identified as essential to the patient's care needs, family staying with their loved ones who are palliative, family visiting loved ones who are critically ill and are not stable, and family required to be on-site for a family meeting during non-visiting hours.
Increased safety also seems to be affecting another halted change in the hospital as it was planned to limit its after-hours access to specific public bathrooms due to concerns over people partaking in illicit drug use.
