Visitor Guidelines
- Visitors must be at least 12 years old
- Most hospital visiting hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily; however, other clinical settings/locations may vary. Please see visitor policies related to other care settings below
- Masks are optional for all patients and visitors, unless otherwise indicated.
- Masks are required in the following high-risk area: Evanston ISCU
- Masks are recommended in areas where we are caring for patients who are at a higher risk of infection.
Mask up if:
- You are sick
- Are recovering from COVID-19
- Are visiting a designated high-risk area
- Visitors must self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before entering the hospital or care site.
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer.
- Visitors, please consider postponing your visit of a patient if you’re sick.
Medical Surgical Units
- 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. Only two visitors at a time.
Adolescent Psychiatry
- 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m., Saturday-Sunday. One parent daily for 30 minutes. Visits must be scheduled with the unit.
Women’s Hospital
- Antepartum (Before Labor and Delivery): 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. Support person (overnight privileges). 2 Visitors per day (not including support person) during visiting hours. Children under 12 may visit antepartum patients during sibling visitation from 4:00 - 6:00pm.
- Labor and Delivery: 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. Support person (24 hour overnight privileges). 1 designated visitor & 1 doula that meets criteria (does not count as a visitor). No Children under the age of 18.
- Mother and Baby: 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. Support person 24 hours a day (overnight privileges, not counted as a visitor). 2 additional visitors at a time during visiting hours. Visitors must be >12 years of age. Sibling visitation time (for those under 12 years of age) is from 4:00 - 6:00pm and limited to siblings of the same household. Siblings must pass health screen and come with a designated adult supervisor who is not the patient.
- Special Care Nursery: 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. No visitors under 18 years of age. Parents only with one per bedside at a time. Able to visit 24 hours per day except at shift change.
Lounges and Waiting Rooms
There are lounges for patients and their visitors on most floors. The waiting room for families of surgery patients is on the second floor, near Elevator 6. The waiting room for families of Intensive Care patients is on the second floor, near the Intensive Care Unit. Visitors may use Elevator 1 or 2.
Infection Control
- Please observe good hand hygiene practices, including disinfecting your hands upon entering and leaving a patient’s room. (Alcohol-based hand gel dispensers are placed conveniently for this purpose.)
- Please refrain from visiting a patient if you have, or have been exposed to, COVID-19, a cold, flu or other illness.
- If you are visiting a patient who has been placed under special infection-control precautions or isolation, please read the isolation signs, check with the patient’s nurse, and make sure you understand and cooperate with the required precautions.
- For patients on isolation precautions for COVID-19, visitors should wear a standard mask, gown and gloves in the room and discard gown and gloves and do hand hygiene upon leaving the room.
- For patients on droplet precautions for other respiratory viruses, visitors should wear a standard mask in the room and discard this mask and do hand hygiene upon leaving the room.
- For patients on airborne isolation, visitors should discuss the appropriate mask recommendations with the patient’s nurse before entering an isolation room.
- If visiting a patient in special isolation, refrain from visiting public areas within the hospital (i.e. the cafeteria).
No smoking is allowed at NorthShore University HealthSystem facilities including outside grounds and parking structures.