Essentia Health relaxes visitor restrictions  

Patients at Essentia Health’s hospitals are now being allowed more visitors. 

Essentia Health will allow two visitors per patient at a time; the visitors do not have to be the same two people on a given day. This is a slight adjustment from our current policy that requires the same two visitors per patient on a given day. 

One visitor may be a child. Children who are visiting a patient must be healthy and supervised by the accompanying adult visitor at all times. We do ask that visitors with children consider limiting the length of their stay to help ensure the safest environment possible for all. 

The health care team may limit visitation at any time in the interest of providing a safe and healthy space for the patient. Children are not allowed in the NICU or pediatric units. However, special considerations can be made at the care team’s discretion.  

General hospital visitation hours have also been extended from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with care partners allowed 24/7.  

We will continue to make special considerations for some patients. We also reserve the right to adjust this policy at any time. Visitors should check our hospital and clinic visitor guidelines webpage for the most up-to-date information.  

While we are allowing more visitors in our facilities, masking is still required. We continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which indicates when masking is required based on sustained COVID-19 community transmission levels. The majority of counties our facilities serve continue to experience high levels of transmission. 

We will evaluate changes to CDC recommendations as they occur and provide updates based on transmission levels when needed.