Carle Health is now urging patients and visitors to wear masks at all of its hospitals and clinics to reduce the spread of respiratory illness.
The Urbana-based medical organization announced its updated guidelines on Friday, calling for anyone experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness to wear a mask when visiting any of its care facilities.
Additionally, hospital visitors must be 18 or older and will be limited to two at a time per patient room.
“As we have in previous years, during peak respiratory illness season Carle Health reviews our PPE and visitor guidelines to take every measure possible to limit the spread of infection,” Dr. Robert Healy, Carle Health’s Quality, Patient Safety and Patient Experience medical director, said in a news release.
“We have an expert team of infection preventionists who continually monitor metrics for diseases like the flu, RSV, COVID-19 and others. This, along with national and state Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] metrics and industry best practices, help us decide when it’s time to update our guidelines.”
The move comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health [IDPH] is recommending additional mitigation to address increasing illness rates. Carle Health says the additional steps will help protect its team members, as well as at-risk patients and the community at large.
“Our care teams continue to encounter an increasing rate of these respiratory infections so we know first-hand that this national trend is also reflected here locally. With everything we know about how to mitigate the spread of disease, these safeguards will help keep more people in our community well,” said Healy.
Carle Health operates Carle Health Methodist Hospital and Carle Health Proctor Hospital in Peoria, Carle BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Carle Health Pekin Hospital and Carle Eureka Hospital, along with numerous outpatient facilities across Peoria, McLean, Tazewell and Woodford counties.
