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Meritus Health Begins New Color-Coded Visitor Policy as COVID-19 Cases Keep Climbing
Visitors to Meritus Health facilities, including Meritus Medical Center, Meritus Medical Laboratory patient service centers and other medical practices, will need to follow a new color code when planning to see patients or going to appointments.
Effective Monday, Aug. 16, Meritus Health facilities will communicate visitor restrictions using colors. Levels include:
- Green – Visitors are permitted for all adult inpatients 24/7. The policy for labor and delivery patients will continue as those visitors living outside of the household must be age 12 or older.
- Yellow – Visitors are restricted to no more than two at a time for all adult inpatients 24/7. All visitors must be age 12 or older, including for labor and delivery patients.
- Orange - Visitors are heavily restricted with only one visitor at a time for all adult inpatients during the hours of 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Visitors must be age 18 or older.
- Red – No visitors are allowed except for extremely limited circumstances, including patients with disabilities, in labor and delivery, undergoing emergency surgeries, receiving discharge education and being given end-of-life care.
Meritus Health facilities are currently on Orange status for visitors.
Signs in Meritus Health facilities will direct visitors to https://www.meritushealth.com/patients-visitors/ for the current color status and details on the policy.
Safety precautions that remain in place include screening for COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms upon entrance, face masks worn at all times, social distancing when possible and regular handwashing.
Restrictions remain for no visitors for patients diagnosed with or under investigation for COVID-19 due to the infectious nature of the virus.
Patients with disabilities may identify one designated support person as a care partner per Maryland regulation even under the more restricted visitor guidelines.
Meritus Health’s new color-coded visitor policy aligns with other hospitals in Maryland and is consistent with approaches taken by other leading health care institutions nationwide, to better protect both the community as well as the health of providers and staff.
