Non-emergency patients and visitors at Guelph General Hospital may be turned away if they refuse to wear a mask, according to a newly formalized policy at the hospital.
Reached by phone on Thursday, GGH president and CEO Marianne Walker said for months the hospital has informed staff that people refusing to wear a mask when visiting the hospital for a non-emergency visit and without a medical exemption can be turned away.
"We have had this in place previously, what we have done is made it clearer in terms of sharing with all staff to say this is clearly our policy,” said Walker.
The formal hospital-wide policy went into effect on Wednesday.
When entering the hospital, patients, essential visitors and care partners will each be provided with a GGH-approved surgical mask and are required to wear it.
"Part of our policy is, if they have refused to wear a mask and it's not urgent medical care that is required, we would look at different approaches, such as can they safely isolate the patient, can they be rebooked, can we look at virtual visits,” said Walker. “And we would turn a patient away if they have no exemptions and we would ask them to come back when they are wearing that face covering or mask.”
Walker noted the hospital would never refuse a patient who needs urgent medical attention and said there are exemptions to the policy, such as respiratory issues, significant anxiety or mental health issues.
Children under two years of age are also allowed an exemption to the mask-wearing policy.
The policy was made using recommendation from Public Health.
"Our role is to keep our staff, our patients, our physicians, visitors healthy and safe from COVID and helping to reduce the spread of COVID,” said Walker. "The numbers are increasing in our community very quickly and we are being very diligent in following Public Health directions and that includes people wearing face masks or face coverings, keeping their distance and good hand hygiene.”
Recently, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario indicated that physicians have the right to refuse treatment to patients who present to the hospital for non-emergent visits and refuse to wear a mask.
"That statement from the college just supports what we were already doing,” said Walker. “Now what we have done is formalized that process in a written policy instead of just having memos go out.”
The policy also applies to essential visitors to the hospital, who are all required to wear masks.
In an email, hospital communications specialist Perry Hagerman said screeners at the hospital have turned away visitors and care partners who refused to wear a mask, but no patients yet.
"To date, we haven’t refused care to a patient who refuses to wear a mask. Instead, we work with the person to make the care as safe as possible," said Hagerman.
According to the policy, masks must be worn in all areas of the hospital at all times, with three exceptions: if someone is enclosed in a room by themselves, they are sitting at a workstation two metres away from another workstation or person and while eating or drinking, as long as that person is two or more metres away from another person.
The policy will remain in effect as long as mandatory face covering orders from the Government of Ontario and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health are in effect.
