HBDHB surgeries and outpatient appointments go ahead; level 2 visitor policy in place

Hawke’s Bay DHB  is now operating under Alert Level 2 COVID-19 guidelines, which came into force at 6am this morning (28 February).

Under Alert Level 2 surgery and outpatient appointments will go ahead as planned, but the DHB’s Alert level 2 visitor policy is now in place.

The Alert Level 2 visitor policy, applies to all Hawke’s Bay DHB facilities. 

Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s Emergency Department will have a strict no visitor or support person policy in place. 

Chief operating officer Chris Ash said the size of the ED waiting room made it impossible to maintain physical distancing from other patients, if there were visitors and support people in such a small area.  Discretion would be applied for children and people who have special care needs or disabilities, he said. 

Acute areas such as Intensive Care (ICU) and the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) will apply their own visitor policies. In other ward hospital areas and rural facilities, it will be one visitor at a time, but more than one person will be able to visit during the day, but each person can only visit once a day. 

It was vitally important no one visited family or friends in hospital if they were sick. Visiting hours between 1-8pm would be enforced, Mr Ash said.

All visitors must sign-in using the COVID tracer app or provide their details on arrival.  Visitors can bring their own cloth mask. If you forget to bring a mask one will  be provided. 

Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s café, Zac’s, will be closed to the public, however the hospital chapel will remain open but limit the number of people inside.

For people coming to a DHB facility for an outpatient, radiology, or laboratory appointment, they should come alone, unless they were advised to bring someone with them.  Exceptions applied to children and or anyone with a disability or needing assistance.  Patients can still use DHB owned iPad to video call family members from a bedside stand using the DHB’s free Wi-Fi if they wished to virtually visit family who lived out of the region or overseas, he said. 

People visiting Hawke’s Bay DHB facilities must:
• Wear a mask or fabric face covering into hospital.
• Sign in using the QR code at the main entrance or sign in manually.
• Importantly, you must physically distance – stay at least two metres away from people you don’t know,
• Wash and dry your hands frequently, or use hand gel when entering/exiting wards.

Mr Ash said if you were planning to visit an age-related residential care facility/rest home, please phone first to check visiting hours.

Anyone in Hawke’s Bay who may have attended any of the locations of interest visited by the newly confirmed community cases of COVID-19, are to follow the Ministry of Health instructions and call Healthline if they’re not sure what you should do 0800 358 5453.

Further information on the rules for Alert Level-2 are available on the COVID-19 website https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/alert-level-2/  

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