Visiting a patient at ONJ
From 10 September 2022
Visitors are permitted to Austin Health sites with some restrictions.
Patients staying in hospital
Patients staying in hospital can have two fully vaccinated people visit per day:
- for a maximum of two hours each
- between 11am to 1pm or 5pm to 7pm.
Patients receiving palliative care
Patients receiving palliative or end of life care at the ONJ Centre are allowed four fully vaccinated visitors at a time with extended visiting hours.
Patients receiving palliative or end of life care who are COVID-19 positive are allowed two fully vaccinated visitors at a time with maximum of four visitors per day.
Please speak with the Nurse in Charge to discuss further.
Masks
All visitors must at a minimum wear a hospital-provided N95 mask. You must maintain a physical distance of 1.5 meters from others when inside our hospitals.
Visitors with valid mask exemption are required to test negative on a Rapid Antigen Test and wear a surgical mask.
Exemptions
Exemptions remain in place for patients who:
- are children under the age of 18
- who have disability where their carer is supporting clinical care
- are non-English speaking and require assistance with translation
- are living with mental health or dementia and have a nominated medical treatment decision maker.
Please discuss with your Nurse in Charge or care team to confirm if you are eligible.
If you are eligible to visit via an exemption you must be fully vaccinated.
Contact a ward
To speak to a ward, call our Switchboard on 03 9496 5000.
Specialist clinics (outpatient) appointments
Where possible, Specialist Clinics (outpatient) appointments are being held by phone or Telehealth, rather than in person.
You will be contacted before your appointment to let you know if it will be conducted by phone or Telehealth. Please attend as normal unless told otherwise.
Patients who are required to attend face to face appointments are requested to come alone where possible.
One fully vaccinated carer may remain if a patient:
- is a child under 18 years old
- has a disability
- has a behavioural need
- is non-English speaking and requires assistance with translation.
- is physically frail
- requires psychological support.
Find out more about attending your Specialist Clinics appointment.
Screening
We are screening all visitors and outpatients entering Austin Health buildings, and have limited the number of entrances that people can use.
Find out more about screening points for visitors and patients.
You can help us to speed up the screening process by completing our Visitor Registration form before coming to hospital.