O.C. hospital, acute care facility visitors must show vaccine card, negative COVID-19 test

Locals seeking to visit someone in a hospital, nursing home or care facility in Orange County must now provide proof of full vaccination or show a recent negative COVID-19 test, according to a state mandate that took effect Wednesday.

Hospitals throughout the county are spreading the word to the visiting public, after the California Department of Public Health announced in an Aug. 5 health order additional measures would be necessary to stem a rising tide of virus outbreaks, particularly in skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes and other acute healthcare settings.

From Jan. 1 to July 27, state health officials received reports of 9,371 coronavirus outbreaks resulting in 113,196 infections, CDPH figures indicate. Of those, nearly 23% — or 2,109 separate outbreaks — occurred in residential care facilities, while another 918 hit skilled nursing facilities.

“Recent outbreaks in healthcare settings have frequently been traced to unvaccinated staff members, demonstrating the risk of unvaccinated persons in these settings,” the order stated. “As we respond to the dramatic increase in cases, transmission prevention measures must be increased for the protection of the patients in [these] facilities.”

At Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, security personnel began checking visitors’ documentation at hospital entrances Wednesday, according to Tenet Healthcare spokeswoman Jennifer Bayer.

“It can be something as simple as a photograph of a vaccination card, or the electronic version of the card offered through the state registry,” Bayer said. “A lot of people now have QR codes on their phones.”

For unvaccinated visitors who instead plan to show proof of a negative SARS-CoV-2 test within the last 72 hours, electronic versions of test results are also verified upon entrance. The mandate applies only to non-admitted patients who are visiting someone in a hospital, nursing facility or care home, not the patients themselves.

At MemorialCare’s Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, representatives confirmed the facility is fully complying with the public health order. In a recent video posted to the hospital’s website, MemorialCare chief executive Barry Arbuckle urged visitors to practice patience and kindness to employees following safety orders.

“I know these measures may cause some inconvenience,” Arbuckle said. “But please understand that we are doing all we possibly can to keep our patients, you, your loved ones and our MemorialCare family safe. That’s our job and our responsibility.”

In a news conference Tuesday, Dr. Carl Schultz, medical director for the Orange County Emergency Medical Services Division, bottom right, said hospitals were seeing an uptick in COVID-19 patients.

(Screenshot by Sara Cardine)

The mandate comes as the Orange County Health Care Agency reported Wednesday a continued increase in the number of residents being hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to increase. A total of 495 residents were being treated in hospitals Wednesday, with 96 in intensive-care units — the highest patient census recorded countywide since early March.

In a virtual news conference Tuesday hosted by Orange County 2nd District Supervisor Katrina Foley, Dr. Carl Schultz, medical director for the Orange County Emergency Medical Services Division, said local hospitals have been increasingly diverting patients in ambulances due to overcrowding and other intake limitations.

A collective 126 diversion hours were reported Tuesday, the rough equivalent of 20% of all Orange County hospitals being completely closed to patients in a 24-hour period.

“We haven’t seen that since the December/January surge,” Schultz said, indicating nine out of 16 hospitals reported patient offload times greater than one hour. “It’s continuing to slowly get worse. We’re starting to make plans for what we would do if this doesn’t abate.”

Bayer said Wednesday Tenet Healthcare facilities, including the Los Alamitos and Lakewood Regional medical centers, began restricting visitation during the winter coronavirus surge but started easing restrictions in March. She said limiting visits to the fully vaccinated and uninfected may be difficult for some, but is the right thing to do.

“We want people to come, we just want to keep it as safe as possible,” she added.

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