St. Luke’s expands visitor hours

CEDAR RAPIDS — UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital will expand visiting hours and institute other changes to its visitor policy as vaccination rates continue to increase.

Effective Monday, June 28, St. Luke’s visiting hours will be 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, according to a news release this week.

Visitors to the hospital still are limited to two per patient, but age restrictions of visitors have been expanded to include children age 12 and older in accordance with current COVID-19 vaccine eligibility.

St. Luke’s Behavioral Health units on 1 West and 3 East now are following hospital visitor policy, which allows two visitors who are at least 12 years and older. The 1 West unit is an adult behavioral health unit, and 3 East is a child/adolescent unit.

However, the behavioral health unit 2 East, an adult unit, will allow only one visitor during limited hours. Children under 18 are not permitted to visit the unit at this time, according to hospital officials.

One support person, plus two visitors, will be allowed at St. Luke’s Center for Women’s and Children’s Health starting Monday.

There are no restrictions on visiting hours, but officials said these visitors should be consistent throughout the patient’s stay. Siblings of any age can be considered one of the visitors.

Patients at the neonatal intensive care unit may have two visitors, including birth parents and guardians, but no sibling visitors at this time.

Two visitors — but no sibling visitors — will be allowed on the hospital’s pediatrics unit starting Monday.

All visitors will continue to be screened at the entrance and must wear a mask throughout the hospital.

More detailed hospital visitor policies can be found on St. Luke’s Hospital’s website at www.unitypoint.org/cedarrapids.

Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids allows visitors in the hospital between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., but only if they are in good health, according to hospital officials. At this time, no one under 16 is allowed to visit, except under extraordinary circumstances.

More details on Mercy’s visitors policies can be found at www.mercycare.org.

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