For the safety of our patients and health care providers, we are restricting visitors to essential visits only at all of our sites. Essential visits include:
Visits for compassionate care, including critical illness, palliative care, hospice care, end of life and medical assistance in dying (MAID)
Visits paramount to the patient or client's physical care and mental well-being, including:
Assistance with feeding, mobility, personal care
Communication assistance for persons with hearing, visual, speech, cognitive, intellectual or memory impairments
Assistance by designated representatives for persons with disabilities, including provision of emotional support
Visits for supported decision-making
Visits for pediatric care, labour and delivery
Existing registered volunteers providing the services described above.
Visits required to move belongings in or out of a client's room.
Police, correctional officers and peace officers accompanying a patient/client for security reasons.
Essential visits shall be limited to one visitor per patient/client within the facility at a time, and a visitor who is a child may be accompanied by one parent, guardian or family member.
Virtual visits are strongly encouraged and supported where in-person visits are not possible.
Review of decisions about essential visits: Families and visitors can ask for a review of a decision about what is considered an essential visit by contacting the
VCH Patient Care Quality Office.
Staff are well prepared and have protocols in place to ensure any patient that presents to a hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 does not pose a risk to others. These new rules are in place as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of patients, staff and physicians.
We are also taking extra precautions at our ambulatory and outpatient clinics, including pre-screening for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 prior to any clinic visits. We will ask that patients, if clinically indicated, defer their visit until their signs and symptoms resolve. If the visit is required, we will explore ways to do the visit virtually or with appropriate precautions in the respective clinic.
As we provide health-care services during COVID-19, keeping you safe continues to be our top priority. Across VCH, our infection prevention and control standards are in place to protect our patients, clients, staff and physicians. For more information, please visit the
Care during COVID-19 page.
During the pandemic, emergency departments across VCH are prepared to safely receive and care for all individuals who experience health conditions that require urgent and emergency care. The public is advised to seek urgent and emergent care without delay, to prevent the exacerbation of medical conditions.