Pottstown >> Pottstown Memorial Medical Center is making a major change to its visitation policy and will now require all visitors to stop at the lobby desk to check-in, and be issued a visitors’ badge.
The new procedure begins on Monday, May 8, and is being implemented to ensure the safety of patients, visitors and hospital employees, according to PMMC CEO Richard Newell.
“It’s really just a change in process and isn’t uncommon. Most other health care facilities have similar check-in policies. But it’s going to be different for us here, because we’ve never had something like this,” he said.
Starting Monday, when visitors enter the hospital, they will stop at the lobby desk where a staff member will ask for their name and where they are going in the hospital. Visitors will also be asked to provide a photo ID. A badge will then be issued for the visitor that shows their name and the department they are visiting. The badge must be kept visible at all times while they are in the hospital.
“The hospital can be a confusing place if you’re not sure where you’re going, and it’s not uncommon to see people in the wrong place. It will help us ID where they are supposed to be,” Newell said. “If they’re supposed to be in the ICU upstairs, but they’re on the medical/surgical floor, we’ll know that they’re lost and we can help direct them to the right place.”
While visitors will be asked to provide a photo ID, Newell said the hospital recognizes not everyone may have such identification.
“If someone doesn’t have one, we’re not going to stop them from visiting their loved ones, as long as it’s within the prescribed visitation hours,” he added.
As part of the new process, two Security Concierge Officers have been added. They will each work 12-hour shifts – greeting visitors, issuing badges and providing assistance when needed. Hospital volunteer staff will continue to man the front desk in tandem with the security officers. Newell added that the volunteer staff offers a “smiling face” when people come in to the hospital.
“Our volunteers are wonderful. Sometimes they don’t have the physical ability to get up and go help someone out of their car or to help someone in or out of a wheelchair,” Newell said. “That’s why we really wanted to focus on the concierge security guard having eyes on the whole lobby; controlling access to the hospital and being there to lend a hand to anyone who needs it – providing directions and physically being able to help.”
Newell said there haven’t been any safety issues that prompted the move, just a recognition that there was a need to enhance the check-in policy.
“When people come into the hospital no one really wants to be here. They are focused on what they need to do or where they’re going. And we’ve noticed that some of our policies and procedures are not being followed,” he said, specifically mentioning instances where children under the age of 12 are being taken to floors where they are not allowed to be under the terms of the hospital’s visitation policy.
Newell said he has spent the last several months looking at the flow of visitors and talking with security and hospital staff.
“Everyone is in agreement that this is a good thing to have in place to be sure people are in the right place at the right times,” he added.
The badges are valid for 24-hours, which means visitors must get a new badge every day they visit the hospital, even if they know where they are going. After 24-hours, the badge, which has a thermal backing to it, will show a series of lines running through it, indicating it is no longer valid.
This week has been what Newell calls a “soft launch” of the process. The new security guards have been in the lobby, helping to direct people and getting familiar with the flow, “when our busiest times are and how much volume really is coming in that front door.”
Information about the new process has been communicated to the physicians working with PMMC and included on tent cards placed throughout the hospital and in physician offices. In addition, the hospital’s visitation policy – with visiting hours and age restrictions for each department – is available at the front desk and online at www.pottstownmemorial.com
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