Visitor Information

Community Memorial recognizes that family presence and visitation plays an important role in a patient’s healing and recovery. It is a patient’s right to designate visitors of their choice, whether or not the visitor is related by blood or marriage. Visitation will not be restricted, limited, or denied based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The hospital may limit visitation when clinically necessary, or when visitation may interfere with patient care. To ensure safety of our patients, we will restrict access into the hospital after hours and to those with potentially communicable conditions.

For detailed information on what to expect when you visit our hospitals, please review our Visitor Guide.

Community Memorial Hospital - Ventura Visitor Guide, English

Community Memorial Hospital - Ventura Visitor Guide, Spanish

Masking Guidelines

Aseptic masks are strongly recommended for all visitors to our hospitals in Ventura and Ojai. Masks are available at hospital entrances.

Aseptic masks are required for:

• Anyone with cold-like symptoms

For the safety of our patients, physicians, and staff, we ask that you do not visit our hospitals if you have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 in the last two days, or if you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days.

Those who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 in the last 10 days should wear an N-95 respirator mask at all times while in our hospitals. N-95 masks are available at lobby reception or by asking a member of our security team.

General Visitor Guidelines

• Community Memorial allows visitation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One family member or support person may stay overnight. Allowances will be made based on patient condition and psychosocial needs as determined by the Charge Nurse or Nursing Management.

• Nursing management may suggest appropriate times to visit to promote rest for the patient.

• Community Memorial may limit or restrict access to patients when care providers determine there is a medical reason to do so, such as when a patient needs rest, has a compromised immune system or highly contagious disease, of if the amount of equipment in the room creates a safety issue for emergency access.

• Visitors under 14 years of age must be supervised by an adult other than the patient at all times. Children are not permitted to stay overnight.
• Visitors with fever, rash, cough, or other signs of infectious illness should not visit. All visitors are expected to clean hands when entering and leaving a patient room and to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, elbow, or sleeve.

• Patients in Isolation for Infectious Condition(s): Visitors to patients in isolation must report to the Nursing Station to receive instructions on the appropriate techniques required for visitation. All visitors must be willing and able to follow infection prevention precautions, including wearing personal protective equipment as indicated. Any visitor failing to follow such precautions may be asked to leave the hospital.
• Visitors may be asked to wait outside the unit or department during shift change or multidisciplinary rounding in order to protect patient privacy and ensure the safe exchange of information for all patients in the unit.

Guidelines for Specific Areas of the Hospital

• Emergency Room: The number of visitors per patient is limited to 2 at a time.
• Procedural Areas: Visitors under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult other than the patient. A maximum of 2 support persons per patient are allowed in the waiting or recovery area. Friends and families are asked to designate who these 2 support persons will be and only these 2 will be allowed access.

• Critical Care Unit (CCU): The Charge Nurse or Nursing Management will determine appropriate visitation based on patient condition and psychosocial needs. Visitors under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult other than the patient. Fresh flowers are not permitted in Critical Care Unit (CCU) patient rooms.

• Labor and Delivery: Labor support and visitation is generally limited to 3 people at a time, plus a doula. The number of visitors may be further limited to allow for safety, privacy, and necessary patient care. Siblings of the newborn baby, including those under 14 years of age, may visit accompanied by an adult other than the patient. This adult must remain present as the caregiver for the child while the child is visiting and leave with the child as appropriate or instructed by hospital staff. After delivery, visitors will be asked to excuse themselves to allow the new parents privacy for bonding and skin-to-skin contact with their baby. One support person can be present in the operating and recovery room for cesarean deliveries. During the triage assessment period, one support person may be present at the bedside.

• Mother Baby Unit: 1 banded and 2 additional visitors, including siblings of the baby even if under 14 years old, are permitted in the Mother Baby Unit. Children under 14 years old must be accompanied by an adult other than the patient at all times and may not spend the night.

• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): Please ask a member of our NICU Nursing Management team for specific guidelines for this area.

For the safety of our patients, physicians, and staff, we ask that you do not visit our hospitals if you have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 in the last two days, or if you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days.

Visitor Entry Process

• Between the hours of 4:00 am - 8:00 pm, all visitors must report to the Lobby Information Desk to sign the Visitor’s Log and state the nature of their visit. If authorized to visit, a temporary visitor identifier will be issued and the visitor will be given the patient’s room number. Additional information on hospital visitation guidelines will also be provided at this time.
• Anyone who wishes to enter the hospital after 8:00 pm must use the Emergency Department entrance and check in with the Security Officer. If the intent is to visit a patient after hours, the Security Officer will call the appropriate Nursing Station to obtain authorization for the visitor.

Authorized Patient Visitors

• A patient can designate visitors of their choosing, as long as the patient has decision-making capacity, unless:
  • No visitors are allowed.
  • The hospital reasonably determines that the presence of a particular visitor would endanger the health or safety of a patient, a member of the hospital or other visitors, or would significantly disrupt the operations of the hospital.
  • The patient has indicated to hospital staff that they no longer want this person to visit.
• In the event a patient is unable to select visitors due to incapacitation and such patient has not designated a support person, the hospital will have the patient’s wishes considered for purposes of determining who may visit. The hospital may consider the following non-exhaustive forms of proof to establish the appropriateness of a visitor:
  • Designated support person
  • Advance directive naming an individual
  • Shared residence
  • Marital/relationship status
  • Legal relationships such as parent-child, domestic partner, etc.
  • For further information on how a Support person may be delineated, please ask a member of Nursing Management.

Visitor Restrictions

• Visitor travel through the hospital is restricted to the patient room, waiting rooms, the Gift Shop, hospital lobby, or hospital café.
• Weapons and illegal drugs are prohibited in any Community Memorial facility at any time.
• No balloons are allowed in hospital facilities due to safety concerns.

Options for Alternative Visiting

We encourage virtual visitation and phone calls to connect with loved ones while they are in the hospital. Examples include FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Zoom, WebEx, or other web-based video chatting platforms. Our staff are happy to assist if help is needed.

Definition

• Family/Support Persons: Family means any person(s) who play a significant role in a patient's life. This may include persons not legally related to the patient. Members of the "family" include spouses, domestic partners, and both different-sex and same-sex significant others. "Family" also includes a minor patient's parents, regardless of the gender of either parent. Solely for the purpose of this policy, the concept of parenthood is to be liberally constructed without limitation as encompassing legal parents, foster parents, same-sex parents, step-parents, those serving in loco parents, and other persons operating in caretaker roles.

If you have any questions, please call 805-948-8170. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.