PeaceHealth easing visitation policy as County’s COVID-19 transmission rates decline

||| FROM ANNE WILLIAMS for PEACEHEALTH PEACE ISLAND MEDICAL CENTER |||

PeaceHealth is pleased to announce that effective Wednesday, Sept. 7, visitors are again allowed—one per patient and one at a time—at PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center.

Visitors are still required to wear a mask in healthcare settings, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health department guidelines.

The easing of restrictions comes as COVID-19 transmission rates in San Juan County continue to fall. In alignment with other Washington state healthcare organizations, PeaceHealth is using the CDC’s transmission map to guide us on next steps in COVID-19 response in our
communities. The decision was made after San Juan County had maintained a “substantial” transmission risk level—vs. high, moderate or low—for more than seven days, thereby meeting PeaceHealth’s criteria for easing restrictions.

In addition to visitors, volunteers will again be allowed inside PeaceHealth Peace Island with no restrictions. Transmission rates have also fallen in both Whatcom and Skagit counties, so our hospitals and clinics in those locations will also be easing protocols on Sept. 7. Although we’re pleased to be able to ease these policies, we remain cautious and are prepared to tighten up protocols should trends again reverse.

About PeaceHealth: Based in Vancouver, Washington, PeaceHealth is a not-for-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. In 1890, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace founded what has become PeaceHealth. Visit us online at peacehealth.org. Located in Friday Harbor, Washington, PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center is a 10-bed critical access hospital which also houses an expanded primary and specialty care clinic to serve the San Juan Islands. The hospital is celebrating its 10th anniversary in
November of 2022.