Newspapers / InterCom (Durham, N.C.) / March 1, 1970, edition 1 / Page 1
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ntcKcom 6ukc uniucusity mc6icM ccntcR. VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3 MARCH, 1970 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA Visiting Changes Effective in March 11-8 on Most Wards; Age Lowered to 12 Duke Hospital will expand its visiting hours in March and at the same time lower the minimum age for visitors to the 800-bed facility. The exact date of the change will be announced to employes within the next two weeks. Beginning that day, friends and rela tives will be able to visit with patients anytime between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on all but the intensive care units and the closed psychiatric ward. The new Duke policy lowers the mini mum age for visitors from 14 years to 12 in most areas. "We hope the new hours will make it more convenient for persons from Dur ham and throughout the area to come to Duke to see their families and friends," Dr. Stuart M. Sessoms, hospital director, said. "We think the new plan will be better for patients too, since having visitors throughout the day should be more enjoyable and less tiring for them than talking with a number of people in just an hour or two." Dr. Sessoms added that spreading out visiting hours on most wards should alleviate some of the traffic and con gestion both inside and outside the hos pital during the current peak visiting times at mid-afternoon and early evening. Duke's new visitor policy still asks that only two visitors be in a room with a patient at one time. As in the past, on the obstetrics wards where babies are often in rooms with their mothers, only the father and grand parents of the child may visit. The 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. schedule will be followed generally on 24 or Duke's 28 patient wards. The other four areas, which include the Acute Care Unit, the Cardiac Care Unit, Meyer Ward, and the Pulmonary Care Unit, will have special hours and other visitor limitations be cause of the serious condition of many of the patients. The minimum age for visitors to these areas will be 18 years. On the Acute Care Unit, located ad jacent to Duke's surgical facilities and recovery room, immediate family of pa tients may visit between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitors to this unit must check at the Welch Ward nursing desk before entering and must be accompanied by a member of the nursing or professional staff to the unit. Because of the con dition of patients on the ACU, the length of the visit will be determined by the physician and the nurse. Visiting hours on the Cardiac Care Unit, if the patient's condition permits, are from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitors should check at the ward nursing station before going to a patient's room. Meyer Ward, the closed psychiatric facility, has visiting hours from 2 to 3 p.m. and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2 to 5 p.m. and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with permission of the doctor. The Pulmonary Care Unit will have visiting from 2 to 3 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. Hospital Records Really Big Year Duke Hospital prepared enough meals during 1969 to feed every man, woman and child in Durham County Sunday dinner for 10 weeks. And the hospital laundry processed enough laundry to wash 30 pounds of clothes—about two standard-size washer loads—for each of those 130,000 county residents. The statistics on meals (1,377,686 of them) and laundry (3,903,711 pounds of it) were part of the figures contained (continued on page seven) ‘VISITOR THERAPY'—Mrs. R. A. Robertson plays with seven-month-old daughter Chase on Duke's Howland ward. Because of the new visitor policy to be instituted later this month, many patients like Chase will be able to have visitors at more times during the day and be able to see 12-year-old brothers and sisters who would not have been permitted to visit under the old plan, (photo by Dave Hooks)
InterCom (Durham, N.C.)
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March 1, 1970, edition 1
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