Kootenai Health cares about the health and well-being of our patients and caregivers. We must ensure the safety of our facilities and our ability to care for as many patients as possible. Below includes the most recent updates to our visitation policy, last revised on March 10, 2022. 

Visitor Restrictions 

Although there is a lower rate of COVID-19 in our community and fewer positive patients in the hospital, it is still important to keep patients and health care providers safe with some visitor limitations. As a result, Kootenai Health has the following visitor policy in place.

Patients who are not COVID positive, or are not suspected of being COVID positive and waiting on a COVID test result, will be allowed 2 visitors at a time with the following conditions:

• Masking: ALL visitors over the age of two must wear a mask covering their nose and mouth.
  • Visitors are required to wear a mask at all times while on our campus.
  • A visitor who does not wear a mask continuously and properly during a visit will first be given a warning and reminded of the universal masking expectations. If, after a warning, they continue to violate the mask policy, they may be removed by security and added to a no-visit list.
  • If an egregious violation of Kootenai Health’s masking policy occurs at any time, security may be contacted, and the visitor may be removed immediately.
• No Temperature: Not elevated.
• No Symptoms: cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, headache, congestion, runny nose and GI symptoms, like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
• COVID-19:
  • Has not been in close contact with a person who is known to be COVID-19 positive.
  • Has not been exposed to a person who is known to be positive and is now in quarantine.
  • Is not waiting on a COVID-19 test result.
  • Has not tested positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of visit and has no symptoms.

Additional visitor accommodations:

• Family Birth Center mothers: In addition to the two visitors at a time, may also have a certified doula (proof of certification required).
• Behavioral Health patients may have visitation through technology only.
• Notwithstanding anything above, whether the patient is COVID + or not, if a patient needs the assistance of their caregiver to communicate with the healthcare team and/or make healthcare decisions for the patient (whether due to current medical condition, disability, etc.), such person will be allowed to visit.

Additional notes:

• Only vendors and contractors providing urgent or non-deferrable services are allowed in Kootenai facilities.
• Non-patient employees are not permitted to have visitors.
• Employees/staff who wish to visit a patient in a non-professional capacity must adhere to all aspects of this policy.