Mercy expands visiting hours

Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids is easing visitor restrictions, officials announced.

Starting Thursday, the Cedar Rapids-based hospital is expanding visiting hours and permitting additional visitors in certain parts of the hospital as vaccination rates continue to increase.

The announcement comes after UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital made similar adjustments to its COVID-19 visitor protocols this past month.

Visitors must continue to follow COVID-19 mitigation guidelines, such as wearing a mask at all times during the visit. They also may not have any known exposure to COVID-19 or present any respiratory symptoms.

Visiting hours at Mercy are now 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., with some exceptions.

Mercy’s inpatient behavioral unit is retaining its limited visiting hours from 6:30 to 8 p.m. One adult visitor is allowed per patient.

The pediatrics inpatient unit is limited to two visitors, but siblings are not allowed to visit at this time.

The hospital’s Birthplace is now permitting two visitors in addition to one support person. The visitors must be the same throughout the stay, but siblings of any age can be considered as visitors.

There are no restrictions on visiting hours within the Birthplace.

Babies in Mercy’s NICU are allowed to have the mother and a support person as visitors. No siblings are allowed to visit at this time.

Mercy officials say visitor policies will continue to adjust as the number of new COVID-19 cases decreases in the community.

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