 "Photo: Matt Castro")
Mercy Regional Health Center recently announced a change to its rules dealing with visitors to the hospital.
According to a press release from Mercy Regional, children under the age of 12 are prohibited from visiting the hospital. Jana Broadbent, Community Relations Coordinator for Mercy Regional, said the new precautions are being put into place to minimize the spread of the H1N1 virus.
“It’s all about keeping the public safe,” Broadbent said. “We don’t want someone coming to visit and accidentally contracting it and taking it to Wal-Mart with them.”
Broadbent said other policy changes include the limiting of visitors to the Birth and Women’s Center to only one supporting person for each patient. It is also prohibits children from the center and discontinuing tours there.
Manhattan is not the only Kansas hospital to do this, Broadbent said. Hospitals across the state are taking similar measures to stop the spread of the H1N1 virus, Broadbent said. This includes Via Christi Health System’s medical centers in Wichita.
Broadbent said the precautions are necessary because Mercy Regional has dealt with an increase in patients with flu-like symptoms recently.
“We’re just trying to keep the public safe,” she said.
More changes are possible to the visitation policies of the hospital in the event that cases of the flu continue to come to the hospital, but Broadbent said she can’t anticipate which areas are most likely to be affected.
“It just depends on what happens,” she said.
Students and Manhattan citizens who visit the hospital are advised to stop by the front desk to be told about the most recent changes.
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