Baystate Health has lifted visitor restrictions put in place during flu season to help prevent the spread of the H1N1 and other flu viruses at all three Baystate Health hospitals: Baystate Medical Center, Baystate Franklin Medical Center, and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.

Children under age 13, and more than two visitors at a time, are now allowed to visit patients when appropriate.

As always, visitors who are ill with cold, flu, diarrheal illness, or fever should call instead of visiting patients in the hospital.

Whether you’re at Baystate Medical Center, Baystate Franklin Medical Center, or Baystate Mary Lane Hospital, for the purpose of visitation, family includes anyone important to the patient.  This may include a person(s) not legally related to the individual.  Members of "family" include spouses, domestic partners, and both different-sex and same-sex significant others.  "Family" includes a minor patient's parents, regardless of the gender of either parent.  Solely for the purpose of visitation, the concept of parenthood is to be liberally construed without limitation as encompassing legal parents, foster parents, same-sex parents, step-parents, those serving in loco parentis, and other persons operating in caretaker roles.

Since visiting can be tiring to patients, we ask that visitors be sensitive to this by limiting the length of a visit and the number of people visiting.  Children with adult supervision are welcome. 

We ask that visitors be as quiet as possible while walking  the halls or visiting patients in semi-private rooms so that other patients are not disturbed.  Visits may be temporarily interrupted at times for patient care, but visitors are invited back to the bedside as soon as possible.

The nurse will explain to the visitor what they need to do to visit.  There may be times when only family members and those who live with you are allowed to visit. Your  nurse or doctor can tell you about any special visiting rules that apply to you.