Vitalité Health Network adjusting to the transition to Orange level

Bathurst, Tuesday, January 5, 2021 – The transition to Orange level in all New Brunswick zones, declared today by the provincial government, brings about a heightened alert level and a suspension of visits for all hospital facilities of Vitalité Health Network.

Visits prohibited
As of tomorrow, visits will be prohibited in all Vitalité Health Network hospital facilities, EXCEPT in the following cases:
• Visits will be restricted to ONE DESIGNATED VISITOR PER PATIENT at the Obstetric, Pediatric and Intensive Care units and to TWO DESIGNATED VISITORS (one at a time) for Palliative Care (end-of-life) patients;
• As for patients who will receive medical assistance in dying, the presence of TWO DESIGNATED VISITORS will be allowed (one at a time), except in exceptional cases where one of the visitors would require assistance to go to the patient’s bedside.

Patient services adjusted as needed
In accordance with the provisions of the Orange level of New Brunswick's Recovery Plan, non-urgent medical interventions and elective surgeries will be authorized, but could be reduced temporarily based on how the situation evolves and on the spread of the virus in the community.

For the moment, the Network is asking everyone to present for their appointments at the scheduled date and time. In the event that certain services would be impacted, the Network will contact those directly affected to postpone their appointments to a later date.

Reducing traffic at emergency departments
The Network would like to underline that all its emergency departments are open for people who require emergency care and want to see a doctor. However, we ask that people whose health condition does not require urgent care make an appointment with their family doctor or nurse practitioner, contact their community pharmacist, visit a walk-in clinic or call Tele-Care (811).