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Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases and the increased rate of transmission in the Selma-Dallas County area, Vaughan Regional Medical Center will be enforcing a no-visitor policy effective immediately for all inpatient units and outpatient areas. Representatives at the hospital said they are currently treating 18 patients with Covid, including 5 in their intensive care unit.

“As always, the safety of our patients, providers and team members continues to be our top priority as we continue to navigate this pandemic, and we will not waver in this commitment,” said David McCormack, CEO of Vaughan Regional. “We continue to take all of the necessary precautions in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities, and we want to reassure our communities that it is still safe to come to our hospitals and clinics should you or your family need care.”

The hospital is allowing some exceptions to non-visitor policy including: Pediatric patients will be allowed one parent or guardian only; obstetric patients will be allowed to have one support person with them for their entire hospital visit; and end-of-life care limited exceptions will be made for end-of-life and medical necessity as determined by the care team.

“We understand these visitor restrictions may be difficult for many in our community, and we apologize for any inconvenience they may cause,” McCormack said. “However, we feel these protective measures are necessary for the health and safety of our patients and team. Our team, along with our community partners, are monitoring COVID-19 closely, and we will reassess and adjust the visitor policy as the number of positive cases declines locally and when we feel it’s safe and appropriate to do so.”

Vaughan Regional said they continue to take all the necessary precautions to keep their patients and staff safe by isolating their COVID-19 patients, enforcing a universal masking policy, screening everyone who enters their facilities, implementing the most effective cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and enhancing safety with new personal protective equipment protocols.