Strategic masking reintroduced for Horizon facilities to reduce spread of respiratory illness

(HORIZON) – Horizon wishes to inform the public that, effective Sept. 3, 2024, all health care workers, patients, social visitors and designated support persons (DSPs) will be required to wear a medical grade face mask in all patient-facing/clinical areas in all of our facilities.

This is in response to rising community rates of respiratory infection, including COVID-19, whooping cough and mycoplasma, with the expectation that the infection rates will rise further once school resumes.  

Strategic masking means that a medical grade face mask must be worn at all times in patient-facing/clinical areas, including all inpatient units, outpatient/ambulatory care clinics and emergency departments and any other clinical setting, including waiting areas.

Masking will not be required in non-clinical areas, such as lobbies, hallways or cafeterias, however, medical grade face masks remain available in all Horizon facilities to anyone wishing to wear one at any time.

Signage will be in place to help patients, DSPs and visitors understand when masks are required and when they are optional.

Current practices to help reduce the transmission of illness in Horizon facilities remain in place:

• Patients, social visitors and DSPs are asked to self-screen for symptoms of illness prior to entering a Horizon facility.
• DSPs with new symptoms of a respiratory infection in the past 10 days or those who have tested positive in the last 10 days will not pass screening and are asked not to enter. They are advised to contact the nursing unit for further direction.
• Social visitors with new onset symptoms of a respiratory infection in the past 10 days or those who have tested positive in the last 10 days are not permitted to visit.

Symptomatic patients may attend their appointment as planned, they must clean their hands, put on a mask and inform their health care team that they have not passed self-screening.

Everyone who enters our facilities must perform proper hand hygiene (clean their hands) regularly. 

Continuous use of medical grade face masks is required for health care workers and DSPs on outbreak units. On these units health care workers, DSPs and patients (when out of their room) wear a medical grade face mask at all times. Social visitors are not permitted to visit patients on a patient care unit experiencing a respiratory virus outbreak.

The health and safety of patients and families, and those who work and learn in our facilities, is supported with enhanced infection prevention and control practices during respiratory illness season. We thank the public for their cooperation as we take steps to reduce the risk of transmission of respiratory illness in our facilities and do our best to protect our most vulnerable patients.

The public can access current information on masking guidance, self-screening and which Horizon hospital units are experiencing outbreaks of respiratory illness on the Horizon website via our Visitor Guidelines at Hospitals and Health Care Facilities page.

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