Appointments & Visitation

Hospital & Visitor Policy

Hospital Visitor Restrictions

At this time, no visitors are permitted at IU Health hospitals.

Emergency Department Visitor Restrictions

IU Health will no longer allow any visitors to accompany patients into emergency departments across the system. Exceptions include one parent or guardian per pediatric or minor patient.

Exceptions

Exceptions will be considered in the following inpatient areas where a patient may receive one consistent visitor. Visitors must screen negative.

• OB/delivery (certified doulas may attend deliveries as a member of the care team). Read our full FAQs for pregnancy and childbirth
• Outpatient surgery and outpatient office appointments
• Inpatient surgery (visitor must leave after surgery once the patient is settled in their room)
• Patient caretaker in-person education
• Pediatrics (one parent/legal guardian per patient)
• Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health (one legal guardian in the building at a time)

Exceptions will be considered in the following areas where a patient may receive two consistent designated visitors. These visitors must screen negative.

• Neonatal intensive care units (NICU) - one visitor at a time of the two designated visitors
• End-of life situations

A patient being directly admitted to the hospital may also be allowed a visitor at the time of admission only.

Watch: Coping with Visitor Restrictions

How We’re Keeping You Safe

Our providers and their teams remain vigilant about protecting our patients from the risks associated with COVID-19. Here is what you can expect if you come in for an appointment:

• All IU Health patient-facing providers are required to wear a mask.
• All patients will be required to wear a mask, which we will provide.
• We will continue to follow our strict policies and procedures for cleaning surfaces.
• Waiting areas have been re-configured to support social distancing. We are also establishing processes to minimize, or eliminate, any time spent in waiting rooms.

Learn more about how IU Health is safely caring for you.

IU Health Mask Policy

Everyone entering an IU Health facility, both inpatient and outpatient, will be required to wear a surgical/isolation mask. This includes visitors, patients and team members.

All patients should wear a mask while in an IU Health facility except when in their room. All new patients will be screened for symptoms.

In areas that allow visitation, visitors will continue to be screened when entering an IU Health facility and wear an IU Health-issued mask. If showing signs of symptoms, they will not be allowed to visit. Cloth masks are no longer allowed.

Appointments & Procedures

Elective Procedures

IU Health is resuming some elective surgeries for our patients. If you had an elective surgery canceled in the last few months and your physician has decided you may now safely have the surgery, you will be contacted by your physician’s office to reschedule.

As you may understand, there are many appointments to be rescheduled, so please don’t worry if you don’t hear from us right away. We appreciate your patience and know that we will be calling soon. Some patients will need to be tested for COVID-19 prior to the procedure for their safety and the safety of the care team.

Rest assured that our team will address any concerns you may have regarding your surgery prior to scheduling. If you have questions, or your condition changes, please contact your physician’s office.

Outpatient Appointments

To ensure the health and safety of all our patients and team members, we’re making adjustments to some of our outpatient appointments.

What will happen with upcoming appointments?

At this time, for the safety of our patients, some appointments may be rescheduled so that our care teams can be available to patients who have immediate needs.

If you have an appointment that needs to be rescheduled an IU Health care team member will contact you with more information. For those appointments that cannot be postponed, options will include virtual visits through IU Health Virtual Visits, visits by phone, as well as in-person visits. If we do not contact you to reschedule, please plan to arrive for your appointment at your scheduled time.

Don’t have an appointment in the next few days?

To allow our care team to focus on patients with appointments in the next few days, we kindly ask that patients who do not have appointments within the next 3 days to wait until closer to their appointment day before contacting us. We realize that this can feel frustrating and we are working hard to support all of our patients.

If your appointment is within the next 3 days and you have questions or would like to confirm your appointment please call your doctor’s office. Find our full provider directory.

Updated Visitor Restrictions for Riley at IU Health Facilities

The following restrictions are currently in place for Riley at IU Health facilities. The restrictions apply at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, Riley at IU Health North and Riley Maternity & Newborn Health at IU Health Methodist Hospital:

• Riley Hospital patients will only be allowed one visitor (a parent or legal guardian) in inpatient settings.
• The NICU at Riley Hospital for Children and at IU Health Methodist Hospital will allow two consistent visitors, one of which can be with the patient at a time. These visitors must be healthy.
• Patients will not go off their units except for testing.
• Visits to the Child Life Zone at our main campus downtown will stop until further notice.

For updates to these restrictions, please visit rileychildrens.org.