VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital.

Last updated:
13 March 2023

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so we recommend all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and  visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people must not visit our facilities if they are unwell. Do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are recommended to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • For Specialist Mental Health Services everyone is strongly encouraged to wear a face mask in all inpatient areas and areas where consumers are receiving care (i.e. community appointments, home-visits, transporting people). Discretion may be applied in cases where masks impair your ability to communicate effectively.
  • Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their face mask in the same space.
  • Hand sanitiser is available and must be used.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear an N95 mask – this will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Other methods of communication will be facilitated e.g. phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp etc where visits aren’t possible.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours with the exception of Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

All visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers are able to be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where just one parent/caregiver is able to attend their appointment with their child. Exceptions by special arrangement only.

Patients and visitors should also read the additional more detailed visiting guidelines for each specific hospital.

More COVID-19 information

Canterbury DHB launches Clever Commuters

Friday 17 April 2015Media release3 minutes to read

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Canterbury District Health Board is launching a campaign to encourage staff to make changes to how they get to and from work.

The Clever Commuters project has been developed in conjunction with the Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury to make it easier for CDHB staff to walk, bike, bus or carpool to and from work. It is being launched at the Hillmorton Campus tomorrow (16 April), with a view to rolling it out to other campuses later in the year.

James Young, CDHB Sustainability Advisor, says changing how staff get to work, even just twice a week, will benefit staff, patients, the community, and the environment.

“Small changes by a lot of people can have a big impact,” James says.

“Biking, walking, bussing and carpooling can save money, free up parks for patients, and reduce air pollution.

“Walking and biking can help reduce cardiovascular disease and stress levels, can improve mental health, and makes us more productive. Bussing and carpooling are great ways to beat the stress caused by Canterbury's bumpy roads, congestion and parking hassles.”

A recent travel staff survey showed 83 percent of Hillmorton staff travel by car to work. Over 850 staff work at Hillmorton Hospital.

James says changing how we get to work can lead to staff spending less money on commuting.

“We know from our survey that about 20 people living in Rangiora commute alone to Hillmorton, at a cost of around $4000 a year. If they carpooled with three others they could save $3000 a year and create a quarter of the pollution and congestion. Not only that, they'd have a more sociable journey and be able to park in one of Hillmorton's new ‘Carpooling only' car parks,” he says.

It is estimated staff from Linwood and Woolston could save $1000 a year carpooling, and those from Rolleston, Lyttleton, and St Albans could save $1800, $1200, and $700 respectively.

To celebrate the launch of Clever Commuters a travel expo is being held at Hillmorton Hospital on Thursday 16 April from 11.30am to 1.30pm. A range of activities and initiatives which make things easier and safer for staff to take a different way to work will be on display, including:

​Carpooling- staff can register for a carpool token, learn how to use the carpool matching website “Lets Carpool”, and find out where the carpool car parks are
Biking- Learn about the safe routes and cycleways, sign up for free cycle training, get your bike checked by John Bull Cycles and have a look at Bike Packages on offer to CDHB staff
Bus – Bus route information and metro cards are available from Environment Canterbury
Walk – a guide to walking to work.
“In the consultations after the earthquakes the community asked for a more pedestrian, cycle and public transport friendly city. It's now up to us to make the change to these modes of transport for a healthier, productive, sustainable and ultimately better city to live in” says James.

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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