MedStar Health Hospital Visiting Hours
We recognize that visitation is important to healing and recovery—and supporting our patients and their loved ones is an essential part of how we treat people. We believe that family and loved ones are cornerstones of patient-centered care and we therefore welcome visitors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Any individual who comes to the hospital is expected to abide by MedStar Health’s Patient and Visitor Code of Conduct policy. The Patient and Visitor Code of Conduct can be found here: MedStarHealth.org/Code-of-Conduct.
Overview
- Normal hours: Normal visiting hours are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Behavioral Health units have their own one to two-hour daily visitation intervals.
- Quiet hours: To encourage rest and recovery, quiet hours are held from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day. During quiet hours, visitors should avoid noise and disturbances, silence cell phones and electronic devices, and generally remain in the patient’s room.
- Number of visitors: Each patient is permitted a maximum of two visitors at any one time. In alignment with the Support Persons for Patients with Disabilities Policy, one designated Support Person is allowed for patients with disabilities and is NOT included in the total number of visitors.
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Overnight visitors: During quiet hours, patients are limited to one visitor, who must be at least 18 years of age. Patients should notify their care team about overnight visitors in advance whenever possible. The care team will work with patients in double-occupancy rooms to ensure the comfort and privacy of both patients is equally considered.
- Security: All visitors must check in at the Security desk at the hospital entrance to obtain a badge and return their badge to the Security desk upon departure.
- Any child under the age of 18 must always be accompanied and supervised by an adult who is not the patient. Generally, no children under the age of 12 years are permitted, though there are some exceptions noted within the policy.
- Visitors staying overnight must be at least 18 years of age and patients should notify their care team about overnight visitors in advance whenever possible. The care team will work with patients in double-occupancy rooms to ensure the comfort and privacy of both patients is equally considered.
- Exceptions: Though we aim to follow these guidelines, there may be clinical or other reasons why the care team must place additional limits on visitation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the patient. In those cases, the care team will provide guidance based on their clinical assessment.