HONOLULU – Due to the rise of the omicron variant in the community, and out of an abundance of caution, The Queen’s Medical Center-Punchbowl will be closing to visitors effective today, December 25, 2021.
“As the rate of infection rises locally and nationally, we need to make sure that we do not lose sight of the safety protocols we currently have in place,” said Jason Chang, Chief Operating Officer of The Queen’s Health System and President of The Queen’s Medical Center. “After much deliberation, we have decided to return to our No Visitor Policy. We understand that the Holiday Season is here, but the well-being of our caregivers and patients must remain our primary concern.”
Effective 2pm today, the policy at The Queen’s Medical Center – Punchbowl will be No Visitors. The Queen’s Medical Center – West Oʻahu will close to visitors at the end of the day today.
If members of the community wish to visit a patient, they are encouraged to consider options like calling or video chat to prevent in-person contact. Teams are prepared to help in these conversations.
Exceptions will be made for:
- Obstetrics and Pediatrics,
- End of life care,
- Patients who have an appointment in one of our clinics that can be accompanied by one caregiver,
- The emergency department will also allow one visitor to assist in the early care of the emergency patient. That visitor will need to wait outside once that early period is over.
There are no exceptions to this new policy for COVID-19 positive, or COVID-19 rule out (persons under investigation) patients.
Molokai General Hospital and Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital will continue with a one visitor per patient policy.
“The safety of our patients and caregivers remains our highest priority,” said Chang. “We continue to proactively follow Federal and State guidelines to implement precautions to ensure we are a safe place to deliver and receive high-quality, compassionate health care to all of the people of Hawaii.”
To prevent more COVID infections, Queen’s encourages the community to remain vigilant as we enjoy the Holiday season together. Avoid large crowds especially when indoors, wear your mask and be careful at holiday parties as they can be high risk situations for spreading COVID.
Queen’s strongly advises those who have been vaccinated to receive a booster if you have not done so already. Queen’s also encourages anyone who is unvaccinated to consider receiving their first dose as soon as possible.
