Finger Lakes Today

F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua will implement a new visitor check-in process starting March 1. This procedure, already in place at the M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center since last October, requires visitors to stop at the Information Desk, present a driver's license, and receive a one-day sticker as their visitor pass. Visitors must return this pass upon leaving.

Brandy Collett, Manager of Volunteers/Information Desk, stated that the policy has been positively received by family members and other visitors at the Continuing Care Center. "Staff have worked diligently to make the process as efficient as possible and we’ve been able to establish this same procedure for all visitors to our Birthing Center unit in the hospital," she said. She also noted that similar check-in policies are used by several Rochester hospitals and local school districts.

Collett emphasized that "requiring visitors to check in and be issued a visitor’s pass provides an added layer of safety for our patients and staff and is an extra security measure for our facilities."

The existing visitation guidelines will remain unchanged. Emergency Department patients can still have only one visitor at a time unless they are admitted and awaiting transfer to a medical/surgical unit, where two visitors are allowed. Additionally, children under 12 are not permitted unless they are siblings visiting newborns or patients receiving end-of-life care.