Twin Cities hospitals put limits on visitors to fight flu

Starting Monday, children under age 5 will be barred from visiting patients at most Twin Cities area hospitals.

The new limits were announced at a joint news conference Friday, as hospitals increased efforts to keep patients and visitors from infecting one another with the H1N1 flu.

The new restrictions, which could last for the duration of the flu pandemic, will take effect at Hennepin County Medical Center, North Memorial Medical Center and all Allina, Healtheast and Fairview hospitals.

In most cases, the new rules go further than the restrictions announced only a few weeks ago, when many hospitals started limiting visitors to maternity centers and children's units.

Now, the limits will apply hospital-wide.

Those hospitals no longer will allow visitors younger than 16 unless they're immediate family. Some are tightening visiting hours, as well as the number of people who can visit at once.

"We understand that these policies may inconvenience some people," said Dr. Steve Bergeson of Allina Hospitals & Clinics.

But "we truly believe these actions are needed and in the best interest of patients and staff."

He noted that, in the past two weeks, a toddler was exposed to H1N1 while visiting an Allina patient who was sick with the flu; and a heart-surgery patient got a visit from a teenager who had just been diagnosed with the flu. That, he said, is what the hospitals are trying to prevent.

Asked who would enforce the new rules, a spokesman for HCMC said that it would be up to hospital staff to monitor visitors and stop them, if necessary.

More flu cases at hospitals

Because of the pandemic, many hospitals nationwide are adopting similar limits concerning visitors, according to a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association.

Similar guidelines were adopted Oct. 1 at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, and they have not changed, a spokesman said.

Officials in the Twin Cities said they agreed Monday, at a meeting of the area's 29 hospitals, to come up with a united front concerning the problem. All the hospitals said they're seeing growing numbers of flu patients -- including a 16 percent jump in emergency room visits at North Memorial and a five-fold increase in flu patients since September at Regions.

Not everyone on board

However, not all hospitals have adopted identical guidelines. Regions Hospital in St. Paul said it will continue to allow children younger than 5 in most parts of the hospital, except for maternity and newborn areas. Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park said it will permit "healthy adults and healthy siblings" to visit newborns and children, and anyone who doesn't have flu-like symptoms to visit adult patients.

Allina announced some of the strictest limits, including: No kids younger than 5, no non-relatives under age 16 and only three visitors at a time per patient. It also announced new visiting hours: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for most units and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for maternity and children's units.

At the same time, spouses or parents may visit anytime, and "compassionate exceptions" will be made on a case-by-case basis.

For details about the new rules, visitors should contact individual hospitals, or check their websites.

Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384