Visitor guidelines

woman sharing visiting guidelines for Allina Health with a patient

General guidelines for all visitors and support persons

Family and support persons are integral members of a patient’s care team. When family members and support persons visit, they facilitate collaboration in shared decision-making and enhance safe patient care. These guidelines allow visits to occur safely.

Visiting hours in hospitals are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. See support person section for exceptions.

We will not restrict, limit or otherwise deny visiting privileges on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, marital or family status; though some age restrictions apply to children.

Masks are strongly encouraged

Wearing a mask in our clinics and hospitals is strongly recommended for patients and visitors due to the increase in respiratory illnesses statewide.

Wearing a mask is for your protection and the protection of others. If you are coming in for care and also have a recent COVID-19 exposure, cough, runny nose, sore throat or fever, please wear a mask. 

Checklist

Screening and visitor arrival

  • Visitors should not visit if they are sick or know they were recently exposed to a respiratory illness. Please self-screen for any symptoms – such as a cough, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, muscle aches or fever – prior to arrival.
  • Visitors should check in at a main entrance to receive a visitor sticker. This sticker must remain visible while the visitor is in the facility. If visitors leave the building, for any reason or length of time, they must present their visitor sticker upon return.
  • Visitors and support persons must follow all visitor protocols, including masking, while in the facility. Visitors who refuse to comply will be asked to leave.
heart or health summary

Patient care

  • Visitors may be asked to step out of the room during an exam or treatment.
  • Visitors must use hand hygiene frequently, and upon request by staff.
  • Staff will provide instruction about any additional infection prevention requirements before visitors enter patients’ rooms.
  • Any time a visitor can't be present with the patient in a manner consistent with these guidelines, our staff will offer other options such as virtual visits.
Team of providers

Support person specific

For patients with an impairment or disability, an adult support person may need to be present to participate in discussions and make decisions related to the patient’s treatment. This may be a guardian appointed for them or a family member acting on their behalf. The treating provider will make reasonable accommodations for these visitors based on the condition and needs of the patient. For example, a support person's visiting hours may be extended beyond the standard visiting hours to meet the patient’s needs.

For family and friends

Here are some additional tips for staying connected with loved ones who are in the hospital:

remotely visiting a family member in hospital on your laptop

Our patient video conferencing service, Care to Connect, makes it possible for you to connect remotely with your family member or friend via video if they don’t have or are unable to use their own internet-enabled device.

Pediatrics Child

Age restrictions

  1. Children under age 13 are not permitted to visit mental health units.
  2. Hospital visitors under age 18 may not stay overnight and must otherwise comply with visiting hours.
  3. In order to visit, children under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older who is not the patient, with the following exception:
    • In a hospital setting, a visitor under age 18 and who is the parent of a child who is a patient does not need to be accompanied by another adult. 

Specific guidelines for visitors in various settings

Visiting hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

  • Adult patients: Open to visitors. See above for General Guidelines that apply in all care settings.
  • Pediatric patients: Two parents/guardians are permitted per patient. Parents or legal guardians may stay overnight according to usual policy.
  • Adult patients: One person may visit before the patient’s surgery and return after the surgery. The visitor may wait in the waiting room or the patient’s room, if applicable. If the waiting room is full, visitors may be asked to wait outside the building.
  • Pediatric patients: Two parents or legal guardians may visit before and after surgery. Visitors may wait in the waiting room or the patient’s room, if applicable.
  • Adult patients: Two visitors are permitted for each patient.
  • Pediatric patients: Two parents or legal guardians are permitted per patient.
  • Visitors are permitted in triage, labor and delivery, and postpartum settings; however, staff may limit visitors in small spaces for safety and privacy reasons.  
  • Trained doulas are permitted to provide support before, during and after labor and delivery.

Also see The Mother Baby Center visiting guidelines and frequently asked questions.

Visitors are permitted during scheduled unit visiting times at the care team’s discretion. Children under age 13 are not permitted to visit mental health units.

Open to clergy.

Visitors and companions are allowed, including parents/guardians and support persons. It's optional to wear a mask unless we ask you to do so to protect your health or the health of others. 
  • Up to two visitors per day are permitted.
  • Visitors must stay in the patient’s room for the entire visit and not come and go.
  • Children under age 18 are strongly discouraged from visiting patients with tuberculosis.
  • Visitor limits may be lifted when the patient has met criteria to discontinue infection control precautions.
  • Additional restrictions requested by hospital staff must be followed.

We may make exceptions to our visitor policies to permit visitors for patients who:

  • are actively dying
  • have a sudden decline in medical condition
  • are having surgery

These case-by-case exceptions are determined by the patient’s care team and clinical leaders. Consideration may be given to patients who have extended lengths of stay.

How we define family

We adopt the following definition of “family” within our visitor guidelines: “Family” means any person who plays a significant role in the patient's life. This may include a person not legally related to the patient. For example, “family” members include spouses, domestic partners, and both different-sex and same-sex significant others. “Family” also includes a minor patient’s parents, regardless of the gender of either parent. For the purpose of visitation, parents may include legal parents, foster parents, same-sex parents, step-parents, those serving in loco parentis, and others operating in caretaker roles.