Updated August 2, 2021

We know that you may have concerns about visiting a medical facility with COVID-19 still in our local communities. Your health and safety is always our top priority. We’ve put in place many precautions to help keep you safe:

Can I see a doctor by video rather than in-person?

Yes, in many cases. Many symptoms and conditions can be cared for via video visits, including most follow up care for ongoing conditions, and even care for new symptoms that pop up. Just like an in-person visit, a video visit is a scheduled appointment with a provider – using secure video conferencing technology. All you need is 15 minutes, a smartphone or tablet, and a quiet, private location.

What are you doing to clean and disinfect?

John Muir Health is following cleaning and disinfection guidelines recommended by the CDC and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), as well as instructions from John Muir Health infection prevention specialists.

Hospital cleaning procedures

• We regularly clean all high-touch surfaces (anything people commonly touch such as door handles, armchairs, counters, etc.) using CDC-recommended cleaning & disinfecting supplies.
• We clean every occupied inpatient room daily. We also clean and disinfect every vacant room before the next patient arrives.
• We deep clean any isolation precaution rooms in our hospitals, Behavioral Health Center and outpatient facilities where we have cared for patients with symptoms of COVID-19.

Urgent care center and physician office cleaning procedures

• Waiting areas:
  • We clean and disinfect regularly; special attention is paid to high-touch surfaces such as door knobs, chair arms, and the reception desk – including disinfecting pens. We also complete a room cleaning log.
  • We have a number of clean pens and a location to put used pens to be ready for disinfecting, so it’s clear which pens are clean. You may also bring a pen if you are more comfortable using your own pen.
  • We disinfect clip boards after every use. For credit card payments, we’ll have you swipe your own card.
  • We have removed common-use items such as brochures, toys, magazines, books, etc.
• Exam rooms:
  • We clean and disinfect each exam room thoroughly between patients, including any medical equipment used (exam bed, blood pressure cuffs, ultrasound machines, etc.) as well as counters, computer monitors and keyboards, chairs, etc. We also complete a room cleaning log.
  • We have removed common-use items such as brochures, toys, magazines, books, etc.

Behavioral Health Center, Outpatient Services cleaning procedures

• We clean and disinfect frequently, including our program rooms.

Medical Imaging departments cleaning procedures

• We are cleaning the rooms appropriately after each exam.  

Are staff and patients required to wear masks?

As of June 15, 2021, California and the nine Bay Area counties "opened up" and aligned guidelines for masking with those recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These guidelines state that masks are still required in health care facilities, for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. For the protection of all, everyone who enters a John Muir Health facility is required to wear a medical face mask while in our facilities, including staff, physicians, volunteers, patients and visitors. 

• All patients and visitors are given commercially produced medical face masks upon entry into our physician practices, hospitals, urgent care centers and Behavioral Health Center, Outpatient Services facility.
• Patients may not wear cloth face coverings, cloth masks, or masks that have a valve (small plastic disk on front of mask) while in John Muir Health facilities. This is because these masks do not provide as much protection against droplet release as medical face masks. Patients who arrive wearing one of these masks can either change masks or place a medical face mask over the one they are wearing.
• Patients and visitors in our hospitals will be given a new mask each day.

Are you screening people before they enter facilities?

Before entering any of our facilities, all patients, visitors, staff and physicians undergo routine symptom screening.

• Screening for symptoms helps us catch any potential illness that a person may not yet be aware of themselves.
• The screening process includes quickly responding to a few brief COVID-19 symptom screening questions. 
  
• Anyone who says yes to any of the COVID-19 screening questions will not be permitted to enter our facilities.

Can patients have visitors in the hospital?

As the pandemic continues, JMH is committed to meet the needs of our patients while maintaining the safest possible environment for our staff and visitors. These guidelines were developed to address the evolving priorities of safe care while meeting the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of our patients. Our goal is to reduce unnecessary risk and enhance the protection of all who are in our facilities. Thank you for your compliance and understanding with these guidelines.  Due to the incidence in the community, we are restricting visitation except under defined circumstances. 

In order to keep our patients and team safe, all visitors must adhere to the following with no exceptions:

• Visitors must perform hand hygiene upon entering and exiting the patient’s room.
• Visitors must wear their mask covering their nose and mouth at all times. There are no exceptions.
• Visitors may be asked to leave the patient’s room and wait in a defined location in the event care needs to be provided during your visit.
• Timing of visitation may be adjusted by the unit leadership for special circumstances, especially at end of life and/or when patient first being admitted to the unit from the ED or other location.
• Household members who have been exposed to a COVID + person prior to admission may not visit for 14 days after exposure.
• Visitors who are under 18-years-old will not be permitted to visit.
• Visitors will not have access to the cafeterias.

• ONE designated visitor will be allowed. This should be the same person for the duration of the hospital stay.
• The duration of visitation will be limited to ONE hour maximum in all Critical Care departments as well as semi private rooms in Acute Care departments. Guidelines to the duration of visitation in other areas will be determined by the patient’s situation and nursing/department leadership.
• Visitors for patients in semi-private rooms, or in open baybeds may be asked to wait to ensure social distancing.
• Visitors may be asked to leave the patient’s room and wait in a defined location in the event care needs to be provided during your visit.
• Overnight visitors will be restricted
• Exceptions to the above will be made for patients in Women and Children

Visitation (COVID + Patients):

• All visitors for COVID + patients must be preapproved by clinical leaders of the unit.
• Visitors will be allowed ONE-15 minute visit in the following circumstances if they have signed the Visitor Agreement for Patients with COVID-19 and will comply with guidelines
  • For end of life decisions: Up to two (2) visitors who will visit outside the patient room and to consult with the Care Team.
  • For End of Life or for patients that the Physician and Care Team feel that a visit may significantly improve outcomes: One designated visitor is allowed inside the patient’s room

FOR UPDATES for patients with COVID-19:  Primary nurse will identify a spokesperson and call them with an update twice daily.

Visitation (Emergency Department)

• One visitor is allowed per patient.
• Visitors will NOT be allowed if:
  • The patient is known to have COVID-19.
  • The patient will be placed in enhanced isolation and tested for COVID-19. (If the patient wants to call the visitor to come back after receiving their negative COVID-19 test, the visitor will be allowed back.)
  • The visitor screens positive for COVID-19 -- Prior to entry, all visitors will have a temperature check and be screened for COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath.

**Exception – if the visitor who screens positive is required (i.e. parent of a minor patient) they will be allowed at the bedside with instructions to remain in the room.

Can patients bring someone with them to in-person appointments at physician offices, urgent care centers or the Behavioral Health Center, Outpatient Services facility?

For the safety of our patients, visitors, physicians and staff, we continue to adjust visitation guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 across our outpatient care locations. Our precautions are consistent with the guidelines issued by the California Department of Public Health, as well as Contra Costa and neighboring counties. 

• All patients and visitors must follow proper infection prevention practices, including masking, hand sanitizing and physical distancing from others not part of their group at all times while in the building.

• At point of entry, all patients and visitors accompanying patients, regardless of vaccination status, will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms. 
  • If you do not have symptoms, you will be able to proceed to your appointment. 
  • If you do have symptoms, your provider will be notified and you will either be seen with appropriate precautions, asked to reschedule or directed to Urgent Care. 
    
• Two designated visitors, not necessarily from the same household, may accompany a patient during an outpatient visit or procedure, if needed, to: 
  • Help facilitate care or treatment; 
  • Assist patients with wheelchair, walking, translation, or other care/support; 
  • Facilitate complex care decisions.

• Two parents/guardians, not necessarily from the same household, are permitted to accompany pediatric patients during outpatient visits.

• Minimizing the number of siblings who accompany the parent/guardian and patient to the visit is recommended, but not required.
  
  
• Clinics / Medical Offices may ask visitors to wait in the waiting area or outside if required for social distancing.