logo
Wynn Hospital lifts restrictions for maternity, pediatric wards

Wynn Hospital lifts restrictions for maternity, pediatric wards

Yahoo02-05-2025
UTICA, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) — The Wynn Hospital in Utica has lifted their visitor restrictions for the Maternal Child and Pediatric wards.
The hospital said in an announcement that the restrictions on visitors to those two wards were to better protect patients and employees from various illnesses, including the flu and RSV. The hospital has said the New York State Department of Health, as well as leaders from the Mohawk Valley Health System Maternity group, found these illnesses to no longer be prevalent.
Visitation regulations will now be as follows:
In the Labor and Delivery unit, two support persons, including a doula if requested, may accompany the patient throughout the delivery period until their discharge home. These persons must wear a green bracelet; there is no switching out of support persons.
The persons may be the patent's spouse, partner, sibling, parent or any other persons over the age of 16. Those two persons may be with the patient outside of regular visiting hours.
After delivery, two more persons may visit the patient until they are transferred to the hospital's Mother and Baby Unit. Only four total people are allowed in the room at one time.
In the Mother and Baby Unit, visiting hours will be from 8 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm, with a designated quiet time from 2 pm to 4 pm. During these hours, the two support people from Labor and Delivery and another two visitors may be on the unit.
Siblings of the newborn will be allowed to visit with an adult visitor. However, they may not be left unattended with the mother. Only four total visitors will be allowed in the mother's room at one time.
In the Neonatal ICU, visiting hours will be from 8 am to 8 pm. All adult visitors must be accompanied by their primary caregiver and show proper ID.
Grandparents may visit without parents if they have been given written permission by the primary caregiver on the visitation form. Grandparents will not be allowed to bring any visitors with them.
A total of two adult visitors — one of those being the primary caregiver — will be allowed at the bedside of each newborn at any time. This is in addition to a minor sibling.
Siblings will be allowed to visit with an adult, but may not be left unattended with the caregiver. Only one parent will be able to stay overnight with the newborn.
Visitors to the Neonatal ICU may be asked about the presence of symptoms from flu, COVID or RSV.
In the Pediatric Unit, the patient shall designate two support persons over 16 years old at the time of admission. Those persons will be permitted to visit the patient with the parents present. Siblings of the patient are allowed to visit with an adult during normal visiting hours.
The hospital has advised that if visitors feel ill, they should stay home and delay their visit until they feel better.
For more information on visitation, you are encouraged to visit the MVHS website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US pediatric group breaks with CDC advice, recommends COVID vaccines for young children
US pediatric group breaks with CDC advice, recommends COVID vaccines for young children

USA Today

time7 hours ago

  • USA Today

US pediatric group breaks with CDC advice, recommends COVID vaccines for young children

The American Academy of Pediatrics released its vaccine recommendations on Aug. 19 in a break from federal guidance shaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The AAP, in tandem with multiple other professional medical associations, previously decried a May announcement made by Kennedy Jr. that the COVID-19 vaccine would no longer be included in the Centers for Disease Control's recommended immunizations for healthy children and pregnant women, a move that went against previous expert guidance and bypassed the normal scientific review process. The AAP, a professional organization of over 65,000 board-certified pediatricians dedicated to advancing children's medicine, said in a June 26 statement that it would "continue to publish its own evidence-based recommendations and schedules," as the creation of federal immunization policy is 'no longer a credible process." Kennedy Jr. drew further ire from medical communities when he fired all 17 original members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the committee of health experts that provides guidance on vaccine use to the CDC, replacing them with members that critics have called unqualified. Some of the members, like Kennedy Jr., have a history of anti-vaccine advocacy and involvement in anti-vaccine groups. Here's what to know about the new AAP guidance and how it differs from federal guidelines. What is the AAP guidance on COVID-19 vaccines for children? The AAP schedule lists which vaccines children should get at certain ages and provides updated guidance on influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 immunizations for children and adolescents from birth to age 18. The schedule recommends that all children between six months and 23 months receive the latest COVID-19 vaccine to reduce the chance of serious illness. Children and adolescents aged 2 to 18, without other high-risk factors like immunosuppression, can receive and should be offered the vaccine if they were not previously immunized, according to the guidance. Children, teens, and adults alike who are at increased risk of serious infection should receive the vaccine if they have not already, AAP said, adding that its recommendation differed from the CDC, which it said is now staffed with people who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation. "The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunizations that are rooted in science and are in the best interest of the health of infants, children, and adolescents," AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly, MD, said in a statement. "Pediatricians know how important routine childhood immunizations are in keeping children, families and their communities healthy and thriving." What is the federal guidance on COVID-19 vaccines for children? The CDC did not go as far as completely removing COVID-19 vaccination from its immunization schedule despite Kennedy Jr.'s insistence. Instead, the agency changed its language from recommending the vaccine annually to suggesting parents consult with their child's physician on whether to vaccinate. Kennedy Jr. previously said that the CDC planned only to recommend the COVID vaccine for people over the age of 65 and those at high personal risk of infection, though the agency's website still contains information recommending it for everyone over the age of six months. A notice on the top webpages on the topic reads, "COVID-19 vaccine recommendations have recently been updated for some populations. This page will be updated to align with the updated immunization schedule," as of Aug. 19. This change to whom the vaccine is recommended could make it harder for others who want the COVID-19 vaccine to get it, experts warned. Since insurance coverage typically follows federal recommendations, anyone who wants the shot but isn't on the CDC's recommendation list may have to pay the price out of pocket HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon defended the decision in a statement to USA TODAY, accusing the AAP, which receives funding from pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, of failing to have proper conflict-of-interest safeguards in place. "By bypassing the CDC's advisory process and freelancing its own recommendations, while smearing those who demand accountability, the AAP is putting commercial interests ahead of public health and politics above America's children," Nixon said. Kennedy Jr. shared a separate response on social media on Aug. 19, pointing out that the agency's top donors are four companies that "make virtually every vaccine on the CDC recommended childhood vaccine schedule" and saying that the AAP recommendations are "corporate-friendly" and may "promote commercial ambitions of AAP's Big Pharma benefactors" instead of public health. "AAP should also be candid with doctors and hospitals that recommendations that diverge from the CDC's official list are not shielded from liability under the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act," his post concluded. USA TODAY reached out to AAP for comment on Aug. 19 but has not received a response. The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices didn't vote on COVID-19 vaccine recommendations when they met in June and are expected to reconvene in "September/October," according to the CDC. The FDA has signaled intentions to revoke the Pfizer COVID-19 shot for young, healthy children. In early August, HHS announced that it would pull $500M in funding from mRNA vaccine research and development.

Pediatric group bucks RFK Jr. on kids' COVID shots
Pediatric group bucks RFK Jr. on kids' COVID shots

The Hill

time9 hours ago

  • The Hill

Pediatric group bucks RFK Jr. on kids' COVID shots

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended Tuesday that children between 6 months and 23 months old receive the vaccine to protect them against serious illness caused by the virus. Kids under the age of 2 are especially vulnerable to severe COVID-19, the group said, and should be prioritized for vaccination unless they have an allergy to the jab or its ingredients. In May, Kennedy announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend routine COVID-19 shots for healthy children due to a lack of clinical data justifying the need for annual vaccinations against the virus. But the CDC did not follow Kennedy's guidance to the letter, instead recommending that parents take part in a 'shared decision making' process with health care providers to determine if their child needs the shot. The AAP and HHS have been at odds for months, and tensions reached a head when Kennedy dismissed all the members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with his own handpicked representatives, including some outright vaccine skeptics. Since it was founded in 1930, the AAP has published evidence-based vaccine guidance to support pediatricians. But it has not traditionally differed substantially from federal recommendations. The move to publish COVID recommendations that break from HHS reflects a new effort by medical societies and expert advocacy groups to bypass Kennedy and what they say are his efforts to upend the nation's vaccine system. With vaccine skeptics in charge of U.S. health care, these groups say they want to give Americans — especially parents — as much information as possible to protect children from disease. At the same time AAP's recommendations were released, a group of epidemiologists and infectious diseases experts called the Vaccine Integrity Project held essentially their own version of an ACIP meeting to review evidence on the safety and efficacy for flu, COVID and RSV shots. Members of the initiative said ACIP usually reviews guidelines for respiratory virus vaccines during the summer, but has not appeared to have done it this year. In its absence, the initiative was stepping in. The panel concluded there was no change in safety signals or sudden drop in efficacy on any of the vaccines reviewed. 'There is no scientific evidence to support the changes HHS made to COVID recommendations for pregnant women or for children most at risk for high-risk transmission of severe disease,' said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who is leading the initiative.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store