Underage visitors no longer allowed at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital amid flu uptick

As flu season ramps up, Providence is restricting visitors under 18 from its Spokane Children’s Hospital.

The restrictions were effective Monday at several Providence facilities in Spokane and Stevens counties. Providence spokesperson Jen York said underage visitors will only be restricted from departments with “vulnerable populations,” including the children’s hospital and the neonatal intensive care unit.

“We also will provide exemptions because we understand that there are circumstances where a visit should be warranted,” York added.

The policy will remain in place through the winter and will be re-evaluated sometime in the early spring. Exceptions to the ban include visitors to patients at the end of their lives and family members of patients who require language interpretation unable to be met by the tele-translator. These can only be granted by a nursing director or administrator on call.

Similar restrictions are also in place at Deaconess Hospital’s NICU unit.

Masking is encouraged but not required at both Providence and MultiCare facilities in Spokane. Since the beginning of the year, MultiCare employees have been required to wear a mask at work. The hospital may require visitors and patients to mask if flu cases continue to increase, said MultiCare spokesperson Kevin Maloney.

These decisions are made based upon Spokane’s percent of emergency department visits for acute respiratory illness. This broad category includes the flu, COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and other colds that do not receive a specific diagnosis.

In Spokane that metric sits at 14.6% of all emergency department visits as of Jan. 3, which is slightly below the statewide figure of 16.4%.

According to Providence, the restrictions are put in place when the percentage of acute respiratory illness ER visits goes above 13.4%.

“When we reach the number that is above the acute respiratory illness threshold, it is recommended that facilities move to universal masking with patient facing care,” York said in a statement. “Masking has been shown to be very effective in preventing the spread of disease and we want to keep our patients and each other healthy. We reevaluate the visitor policy around spring when the transmission rates typically decrease.”

The rate of flu transmission is expected to increase. The flu across the United States spiked during the holiday break. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu cases increased by 32.9% in the week ending Dec. 27 compared to the week prior.

While the flu accounts for the biggest share of respiratory illness, other viruses contribute to the overall environment. Currently, COVID-19 and RSV account for 0.4% and 0.1% of emergency department visits in Spokane, respectively, while the flu accounts for 5.1%.

Those low rates may underestimate the impact of diseases like RSV, which typically causes hospitalization when contracted by infants or young children, said John Lynch, a physician at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“Fortunately, COVID and RSV are at pretty low levels. Fingers crossed we stay there,” Lynch said. “But there is more than one virus out there, and if you are at high risk to any of them, now is the time to be careful and seek care early if you start seeing symptoms.”

The flu is best treated when caught within the first 24-36 hours after the onset of symptoms.