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Learn about visitor restrictions at all Upstate Hospitals

Visitor Guidelines

University Hospital recognizes that open visitation plays an important role in a patient's healing and recovery. Family and friends are welcome to visit often while their loved ones are in the hospital. Visiting privileges are not restricted or denied on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Patients have the right to refuse to see visitors if they so wish and should discuss this with their nurse. Please review the following guidelines and visit one of our information desks for additional information.

Visitation Guidelines

There are additional restrictions in place due to COVID.
Please review them before traveling to Upstate.

  • On arrival to the unit, visitors should check at the nursing unit to learn if any restrictions apply to the patient they wish to visit.
  • Hospitalized patients will be asked to identify a small number of primary support people. Primary support persons are those who normally provide a patient with significant physical psychological or emotional support. These support people will generally be able to visit at any time during their hospital stay (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Examples might be a close family member, domestic or same-sex partner, spouse, sibling or best friend.
  • Some of our patient rooms are small and too many visitors can make patient care difficult. We appreciate your help in limiting visitors to a manageable number to support the patient's recovery and minimize disturbing other patients.
  • Visits by children should be discussed with the nurse manager. Adults who bring children are responsible for supervising them. Children visitors may not spend the night in the Medical Center. Some units have additional guidelines for children visitors.
  • For everyone's health, there's no smoking anywhere on the grounds of University Hospitals' campuses. Our hospital and grounds are considered tobacco free zones.
  • Patient health and operational needs of the hospital sometimes impact visitation but University Hospital strives to promote and maximize involvement of others through our visitation policy. Upstate University Hospital will only restrict visitors when medically necessary.
  • Patients can withdraw visitation consent at any time by discussing their wishes with their nurse.
  • Visitation guidelines are set up to help ensure patient and staff safety, as well as patient privacy and confidentiality.
  • To help ensure that our patients are not exposed to contagious diseases, children or adults recently exposed to illnesses such as pox, flu, measles, or who are feeling sick, should not visit.
  • Please wash hands or use hand sanitizer when you enter and leave patient rooms.
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