Our hospital's current visitor information

At Portsmouth Regional Hospital, we recognize the valuable role family, friends and significant others play in your recovery. As such, we welcome visitors to participate in your care while you stay with us.

To get the most enjoyment from your visitors without compromising your health and the care you need, we recommend asking your loved ones to follow these guidelines:

  • All visitors must wear shirts and shoes.
  • Ask permission from the nursing staff to take patients from their rooms during your visit.
  • Avoid visiting if you have a cold, cough, sore throat or communicable disease.
  • Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult and should have received all appropriate immunizations.
  • Before bringing animals to visit, ask permission from the nursing supervisor.
  • Before visiting, check with the nurse and follow dietary requirements or restrictions regarding bringing food and drink to patients.
  • For safety, only bring non-latex balloons to the pediatric unit.
  • Please comply with our strict no-firearms policy.
  • Refrain from bringing flowers to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Space is extremely limited and we need access to necessary equipment.

Visits may be interrupted and you may be asked to leave the room when treatments are delivered or if patients are scheduled for tests or treatments in other locations.

If you are planning on staying overnight, explore our extensive amenities for patients and visitors and ask the nursing staff about arranging overnight accommodations.

Visiting hours

Visiting hours will vary from unit to unit based on both patient and hospital needs. For the most up-to-date visiting hours, contact the nurses station in the unit you are attempting to visit.

Special guidelines will apply if you are visiting the ICU, sometimes referred to as the critical care unit (CCU). For patients staying in our behavioral health unit, review behavioral health visitor information.

Visitor infection prevention

Be aware of your responsibility as a visitor for infection prevention. Handwashing is the best way to prevent the spread of infection. Wash your hands before and after making contact with patients, after using the bathroom, after handling contaminated items, before eating and before preparing food for someone else to eat.

Comply with notices on patients' doors concerning isolation precautions, such as "Contact Precautions," "Droplet Precautions," or "Airborne Precautions." Before entering the room, ask the nursing staff for any pertinent patient information to ensure the safest possible visits.

COVID-19 policies

We have resumed our pre-COVID-19 visitor policy.

Effective April 3, 2023: Masks will no longer be universally required in this facility, and instead will be optional for patients, visitors, and staff. This change is due to a low community level of COVID-19. Please wear a mask if you have flu or COVID-19 symptoms, have tested positive for COVID-19, or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. We will continue to make masks available at the public and employee entrances for those who choose to wear a mask while in our facility.

Individuals with respiratory symptoms or other COVID-19 risk factors, such as recent exposure or positive test (within 10 days), will be asked to refrain from visiting and instead utilize alternative communication methods such as video chatting apps.

Our current visitation policies allow for visitors between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm, with the following exceptions:

  • Due to COVID-19, visitors to the behavioral health unit are required to coordinate in advance with the social work department.
  • Emergency room (ER) patients are limited to one visitor at a time, aged 16 or older.
  • Visitors for COVID-19 patients will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances after consultation with the administrator on call. Thank you for your cooperation with these restrictions as we work together to end this pandemic.

Vaccination information

Immunization helps save millions of lives every year. Whereas most medicines treat or cure diseases, vaccines can help prevent them by working with your body's natural defenses to build protection. When you receive a vaccine, your immune system responds.

Vaccines prevent more than 20 life-threatening diseases, and help people of all ages live longer, healthier lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally, immunization currently prevents between two and three million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles.

COVID-19 vaccines work with your immune system so your body will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed. Other steps, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask and staying at least six feet away from others, may help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others. Together, vaccination, while following the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) recommendations for protecting yourself and others, will offer the best protection from COVID-19.

We encourage our staff, patients and visitors to get vaccinated from COVID-19. To learn more about where and when you can get a COVID-19 vaccine, please visit vaccines.gov or call 1(800) 232-0233.

See the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) resource page for extensive information and the latest recommendations regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

Circumstances may allow for specific exceptions to any visitation restrictions described on this webpage. Those circumstances include religious visitation as well as a designated support person for a patient with a disability to provide assistance with communication or other necessary components of the patient's treatment. All persons entering under an exception remain subject to appropriate infection control protocols.