Dear Colleague,

As you probably know, there has been a significant surge in COVID cases in New Jersey due to the Omicron variant, which has resulted in increased hospitalizations. Therefore, The New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) has issued updated guidance on hospital visitation, announcing that visitors are not permitted. However, caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) will be relieved to know that there are a few important exceptions to the NJHA "no visitors" policy, as follows:
 
"Exceptions may apply to pediatrics, labor and delivery, end of life, and patients with intellectual, developmental or cognitive impairment including dementia, communication barriers or behavioral concerns.
  • All exceptions must be approved by the care team."

The New Jersey Hospital Association requires the following safety precautions for all persons who are visiting a hospitalized individual for whom an exception has been permitted. 
  •  All visitors must be 18 years of age or older, except for exceptions approved by the care team. 
  • All visitors will be required to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment. Bandanas, gaiters or masks with exhalation valves are not permitted because they don’t provide sufficient protection. 
  • All visitors must undergo symptom and temperature checks upon entering the hospital.
  • All visitors must perform hand hygiene before visiting a patient. 
  • Once in the hospital, visitors must remain in the patient’s room (or emergency department bay) throughout the visit, except when directed otherwise by hospital staff. 
  • All visitors must comply with hospital requirements to minimize the potential spread of infection.  

The NJHA policy statement on hospital visitors (updated on December 29, 2021) is available below:


We hope that your family members and friends with IDD are healthy and had a wonderful holiday season, and we hope that you won't need to utilize the hospital visitation guidance that is described above. But if you need this information, we hope it will be useful.

Please share this email with others who may also be interested.

Thank you.

Bev

Beverly Roberts
Director, Mainstreaming Medical Care
The Arc of New Jersey
985 Livingston Avenue
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
You are encouraged to share this information with others who may also be interested. However, if you are forwarding this, please delete the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email. If you do not remove the "unsubscribe" option and a person who receives your forwarded email clicks "unsubscribe," it would result in your name being removed from our distribution list.

Click here to see The Arc of NJ's COVID-19 information and resource page. 
Click here to access information from the State Of New Jersey on COVID-19.