Sheldon, Iowa — Due to the flu outbreak, some hospitals in Iowa are restricting visitors. But not Sanford Sheldon.
Elsewhere in the state, some hospitals have new temporary rules for visiting hospital patients, such as no one under the age of 18 may visit a hospital patient, only one person may accompany an emergency patient, and only significant others can visit new moms and their babies. If they don’t have a significant other, only one other person can visit. And if visitors have any flu-like symptoms they are not allowed to visit patients.
But Sanford Sheldon CEO Rick Nordahl says there are no such restrictions at this time at Sanford Sheldon. But precautionary steps are a good idea, and are being taken.
He says more caution is needed in their nursing home wing.
Nordahl says that if you haven’t received a flu shot, it is still a good idea.
We asked Nordahl under what scenario would they consider changing visitor policy.
Some northwest Iowa churches are implementing hand-shaking bans due to the flu. Nordahl says while that’s probably not a bad idea, he doesn’t think it’s their place to tell people whether to shake hands or not.
