Policies

The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System is currently under restricted visitation rules.

Please review these guidelines before you visit a patient at our hospital.

New Orleans VA Medical Center
2400 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70119

Visiting hours

• Call the medical center for specific ward visiting hours and information.
  New Orleans VA Medical Center: 800-935-8387

General visitor rules:

• All visitors must wear an appropriate face covering (mask) at all times. They may wear their own or may be provided one if they do not have an appropriate face covering.
• All visitors must be screened for COVID-19 using current screening protocols and enter during screening station hours via established screening stations. Current screening station hours are 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. seven days a week.
• All visitors must respect posted guidance regarding physical distancing and hand hygiene.
• Current visitation policies will be posted at screening stations and on the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System’s Home Page.
• If any visitor is unable to follow guidance for safe visitation (such as refusing to wear a mask, improperly wearing a mask or accessing unapproved areas), the visitor may be asked to leave.
• Veterans and visitors are encouraged to conduct their necessary business at the facility and depart.
• When the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System is under “restricted” visitation rules, volunteers will not be permitted on campus to protect their safety.

Visiting church members

• If you’re a member of the religious community, we encourage you to visit patients who belong to your church or religious group. However, you’re not allowed to do general visitation by going from bed to bed, ward to ward or unit to unit.　

Bringing food

• You may bring small amounts of candy, fruit and other food items if the nursing staff says they are appropriate for a patient's diet. You may not bring fresh fruit and flowers to patients who are receiving critical care and you can’t eat or drink in those units.

Prohibited items

• You're not allowed to bring weapons, cameras or other prohibited items into the medical center, except when you're conducting official business authorized by the Director or their designee. If you have questions about what qualifies as official business, please contact the facility's Director. Because the VA medical center is federal property, all visitors and bags may be searched.  

Giving privacy

• Our staff may ask you to leave the room when they’re caring for patients. If a staff member asks you to leave a patient's room, you may continue your visit in the day room, waiting area or any other public area of the facility.

Limiting your visit

• Our doctors may limit, restrict or deny visits for the medical well-being of a patient. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. 

Outpatient clinic visitation including outpatient procedural and surgical areas:

• Patients may be accompanied by one adult support person only if they are essential to the medical care of the patient.
• In general, visitors under the age of 18 are strongly discouraged from entering the medical center (except for recognized surrogates). If a minor must accompany a patient to their outpatient appointment due to unavoidable circumstances, the minor must remain with the patient at all times during the visit. If the nature of the patient’s visit precludes the minor from staying with them at all times (for example, during a procedure), the patient must make other arrangements for care of the minor during their visit. Minors are not to wait unaccompanied in waiting areas in the medical center.
• All visitors to the outpatient clinics must wear a face covering at all times.
• Visitation is confined to the following areas: the patient care room, the clinic waiting areas, the cafeteria, the retail store and public restrooms.

Emergency Department visitation:

• Emergency Department patients who have not presented with COVID-like symptoms and are not known to be infected with COVID-19 are allowed one visitor per patient if appropriate to the medical status of the patient, as determined by the Emergency Department team.
• Emergency Department patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 will not be allowed a visitor except for end-of-life or compassionate care.
• Emergency Department patients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are undergoing end-of-life or compassionate care may be allowed limited visitors for a short period of time. Visitation will be coordinated as appropriate by the primary treating team.
• All visitors to Emergency Department patients must wear a face covering at all times.
• Visitation is confined to the following areas: the patient’s room, the Emergency Department Waiting Room, cafeteria, the retail store and public restrooms.

Inpatient visitation for non-COVID patients on medical, surgical, or critical care units:

• Visitation for inpatients remains limited due to the elevated risk that COVID-19 may pose to this group. Care teams of inpatients will make available opportunities for Veterans to connect with their loved ones via non-face-to-face methods. 
• Inpatients who are COVID-19 negative or COVID-19 recovered may have one visitor per day (no swaps) if deemed medically necessary by the primary treating team and this must be documented by the primary team via a nurse text order. This visitor must enter during screening station hours.
• Exceptions to the above visitation rules may be allowed for end-of-life or compassionate care. In this case, the inpatient team will write a nursing text order indicating that additional visitors are allowed for end-of-life or compassionate care. In general, no more than 3 visitors will be allowed in the room at a time for end-of-life or compassionate care. Rare exceptions to this may be arranged through discussion between the primary treating team and the nurse manager.
• In general, visitors under the age of 18 are strongly discouraged from visiting inpatients (except for recognized surrogates) but may be allowed for end-of-life or compassionate care visitation, as indicated in the nursing text order. All minors must be accompanied by a guardian at all times and wear a mask while in the facility.
• Members of the clergy do not count as a patient’s official visitor and can accompany a visitor when visiting a patient. Members of the clergy must follow the other visiting rules such as screening and mask-wearing.
• All visitors to the inpatient units must wear a face covering at all times.
• Visitation is confined to the following areas:  the patient’s room, the cafeteria, the retail store and public restrooms.

Inpatient visitation for COVID patients:

• Inpatients who are currently infected with COVID-19 or are persons under investigation (PUI) are not currently allowed visitors except for end-of-life or compassionate care, as designated in a nursing text order.
• Inpatients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are undergoing end-of-life or compassionate care may be allowed limited visitors for a short period of time. Visitation will be coordinated as appropriate by the primary treating team. End-of-life or compassionate care visitors to COVID-19 inpatients will be provided with medical face masks, eye protection, isolation gowns, and gloves to wear during their visit with the patient.

Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit visitation:

• Visitation is limited to specific hours. Please contact the unit to arrange approved visitation.
• When pre-arranged visitation occurs to the inpatient behavioral health unit, visitors must wear a face covering at all times.
• Visitation is confined to the following areas: the behavioral health visitation area, the cafeteria, the retail store and public restrooms.

CLC visitation:

• Visitation for CLC residents remains limited due to the elevated risk that COVID-19 may pose to this group, and processes may change regularly due to current circumstances. Please contact the unit to arrange approved visitation. CLC visitation must be documented in a nursing text order.

Service animal policy

What is a service animal?

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a “service animal” is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. Assisted therapy animals are NOT included in this definition. Under the new Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations, “other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purpose of this definition.” (28 C.F.R. § 36.104/28 C.F.R. §35.104.)

Who is entitled to use a service animal under the ADA?

The ADA authorizes the use of service animals for the benefit of individuals with disabilities. While the ADA does not limit the type of disability one must have in order to use a service animal, there must be a direct link between the task an animal performs and how it lessens the disability of the handler. The ADA defines disability to include a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual.” (42 U.S.C. 12102(1)(A).)

Are service animals allowed anywhere in the Medical Center?

No, although a health care facility must permit a person with a disability to be accompanied by a service animal, there are exceptions as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Service animals are NOT allowed in the following places: 

• Operating rooms and surgical suites

• Dental exam suites

• Areas where personal protective clothing is worn (isolation rooms, infusion clinic and dialysis units)

• Intensive Care Unit

• Areas where food is stored or made, such as the kitchens and refrigeration areas

• Linen storage or laundry areas

• Minor procedure rooms

• MRI/Radiology exam rooms

Are therapy and emotional support or comfort animals considered service animals?

No, they are not the same. The provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship is not the type of “work or tasks” considered in the ADA’s definition of a service animal. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104; 28)

What questions can be asked to determine whether a dog is a service dog?

Patients may be asked two questions:

• Is this a service dog?

• What task or work has the dog been trained to perform? (28 C.F.R. §36.302 (6); 28 C.F.R. §35.136(f ).)

Who is responsible for the supervision and control of the service animal?

The service animal handler must have control of their service animal. Service animals are to have a harness, leash or other tether (no greater than three feet), unless the handler is unable to use one because of a disability or such use would interfere with the animal’s safety or effective performance of work or tasks, in which case the service animal must be otherwise under the handler’s control by way of voice control, signals or other effective means. (28 C.F.R. §36.302(4); 28 C.F.R.)

Service animal rules of behavior:

• Be on a leash at the handler’s side where the leash is to be no greater than three feet (please see above for exceptions)

• Stay off the furniture

• No toileting or marking in the medical facilities

• No growling, biting, snapping or barking

• Be clean as well as flea, tick and worm free

Service animal handler must be prepared to:

• Bring someone who can hold your dog if you need to be separated

• Reschedule your appointment if your dog is being disruptive and you are asked to leave

• Request others to refrain from petting your service dog

Please utilize our fenced-in area near the Emergency Department parking lot to let your service dog exercise unleashed in the handler’s presence.

VA staff cannot care for your dog. 

For the safety of everyone, pets or exotic animals are not allowed.