Masking policies to remain in place at area hospitals

Earlier this spring, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OC- MOH) announced a directive to maintain existing masking requirements in select higher-risk indoor settings such as hospitals until June 11, 2022.

With the OCMOH directive set to expire, it was left up to hospitals on whether masking policies were to remain in place past the June 11 date.

Despite experiencing lower community levels of COVID-19, Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) in Leamington, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) in Chatham, and Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) and Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) in Windsor will NOT be changing their masking policies and procedures for the foreseeable future.

The masking policies and procedures apply to all visitors, patients (as tolerated), and all staff, physicians and volunteers regardless of which area they work.

This also takes into consideration the higher risk environment in which the hospitals operate with many elderly and immune compromised patients.

With the masking policy remaining in place, this means that everyone entering these hospital sites – ESHC, CKHA, WRH and HDGH – will still be required to wear a medical grade mask. This is consistent with recent guidance issued by Public Health Ontario.