London Hospitals introduce respiratory season Masking Guidelines

London, ON – As we enter the fall respiratory virus season, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) are introducing respiratory season masking guidelines to better reflect the current health and safety risks.

Effective Thursday, October 31 at 12:01am, LHSC and St. Joseph’s will introduce updated masking requirements.

“The fall respiratory season is upon us, and it’s time to update our masking requirements accordingly,” says Dr. Kevin Chan, Corporate Medical Executive at LHSC. “Changes to our masking guidelines are aligned with our regional and provincial partners, with a goal of ensuring staff, physicians, volunteers, patients, caregivers, visitors and our community remain protected while respiratory viruses circulate this fall and winter.”

As respiratory season begins, it is crucial to enhance our safety practices to protect everyone in our care, especially our most vulnerable patients. Our updated masking guidelines, along with a strong emphasis on vaccination and hand hygiene reinforce our commitment to creating a safe and healthy environment for all,” says Dr. Adam Dukelow, Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs at St. Joseph's Health Care London. “The health and safety of our patients, residents, staff and community remains our top priority.”  

What This Means for You

For patients/visitors:

• At LHSC and St. Joseph’s we recommend that you wear a mask in all clinical areas, care settings, inpatient and outpatient settings and when in direct contact with a health care worker, especially in our Inpatient Units, Emergency Departments, Urgent Care, the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, clinical waiting rooms, and Outpatient Clinics.
• Patients at LHSC and St. Joseph’s with a fever or respiratory symptoms are required to mask in all clinical and non-clinical settings (except if in an inpatient room or bed space).
• Visitors with a fever or respiratory symptoms are being asked to reschedule their visit when their symptoms improve.  
• Masks will continue to be available at designated entrances and in care settings.

For staff/physicians:  

• Masking will be required when providing direct patient care in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings, including waiting rooms and in LHSC’s Emergency Department and St. Joseph’s Urgent Care Centre.
• Masks are recommended but will not be required in common spaces including hallways, cafeterias, office spaces, auditoriums, communication desks, and/or laboratories.
• Masks will continue to be available at all entrances and in care settings.

We would like to thank patients, families, and the community for their ongoing support as we move towards these new requirements and recommendations to ensure our hospital communities are protected throughout the respiratory season. As always, we will continue to assess our infection prevention and control safety measures on an ongoing basis.

Spokespeople:

Dr. Kevin Chan, VP Medicine (CME), Research & Academics at London Health Sciences Centre. – Dr. Chan will be available for interviews from 11:30am to 1pm.

Dr. Adam Dukelow, Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs at St. Joseph's Health Care London. - Dr. Dukelow will be available for interviews from 12:30pm to 2:30pm.

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About London Health Sciences Centre

With roots going back a century and a half, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), is an award-winning, research-intensive acute tertiary and quaternary teaching hospital, one of only 14 such hospitals in Ontario. LHSC is also home to Children’s Hospital, one of just four acute tertiary care paediatric hospitals in the province.  Our unique place in the health system positions us well to inform and advise on provincial, national and international health policy. We are the cornerstone of care for many specialized programs and services in Western Ontario. And, as a major provider of emergency care and through our community hospital mission, we also care for the more than 400,000 people who call London home as well as many in surrounding communities. With Ontario’s health system continuing its transformation, LHSC has an opportunity to inform it and to place itself at the locus of the regionalized health system by virtue of its size, specialized capabilities, research and education capacity and its current regional footprint. LHSC’s formal relationship and strong bond with Western University provide a mechanism for collaboration to enable the delivery of high-quality care through a process of continuous learning and research.  At its core, the affiliation is a reciprocal relationship that leverages the learning, teaching and care environments of both Western University and LHSC. LHSC is a 15,000-person strong team of physicians, staff and volunteers – collaborators, innovators and pioneers, meeting the care needs of those we serve and charting a course for the future.

About St. Joseph’s Health Care London

Renowned for compassionate care, St. Joseph’s Health Care London is a leading academic health care centre in Canada dedicated to helping people live to their fullest by minimizing the effects of injury, disease and disability through excellence in care, teaching and research. Through partnership with Lawson Health Research Institute and our collaborative engagement with other health care and academic partners, St. Joseph’s has become an international leader in the areas of chronic disease management; medical imaging; specialized mental health care; rehabilitation and specialized geriatrics; and surgery.  St. Joseph’s operates through a wide range of hospital, clinic and long-term and community-based settings, including: St. Joseph’s Hospital; Parkwood Institute; Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care; and the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care. sjhc.london.on.ca.

For media inquiries contact:                                                                  

Allison Hansen
St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Communication & Public Affairs
519-646-6100 ext. 61501
@email

Celine Zadorsky
Senior Media Relations Consultant
London Health Sciences Centre
226-927-2309
@email

After-hours assistance:  

Call St. Joseph’s switchboard at 519-646-6100 and ask to page the communicator on-call.  

Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communicator on-call. Visit the LHSC Media web site.