Lake Huron Medical Center limiting visitation starting today

Lake Huron Medical Center is limiting who can enter the hospital, citing COVID-19 concerns. 

The hospital was slated to stop allowing visitors or non-essential traffic, starting Tuesday, according to an update issued late Monday. 

Families are encouraged to utilize technology, including phones and face-to-face calling with Zoom or FaceTime, to communicate with loved ones. In-person visitation can be arranged in the event of any end-of-life or other extenuating circumstances.

Requests for further comment to Lake Huron representatives were not immediately returned as of late Tuesday morning. 

McLaren Port Huron is still allowing visitation, though there are restrictions in place, including: 

• No visitors under age 18
• Visitors must stay with a patient unless otherwise asked by the team
• All visitors are screened at the main entrance for signs/symptoms of COVID
• All visitors must wear a mask at all times
• Patients who are COVID positive are not able to have visitors at this time

"We believe visitation is important and valuable for patients and families," McLaren spokeswoman Jennifer Carbary said in an email. "With the visitation restrictions we have in place, we are comfortable continuing visitation at this time."

Lake Huron's notice comes as COVID numbers trend upward in some regions.

In St. Clair County, as of early Tuesday, there were 2,660 active cases. The county's seven-day average of new daily cases also remained higher at the end of last week at around 76 versus the end of October, when the average was roughly 64 cases.

None of the county's hospitals, however, were reporting COVID numbers as high as past surges of the virus, such as they had at the end of 2020.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Lake Huron Medical is caring for 17 COVID patients, including two in the hospital's intensive care unit, and a bed occupancy rate of 74%.

McLaren Port Huron reported 38 COVID patients with four in the ICU and capacity of around 92%, while Ascension River District saw three coronavirus patients, one in its ICU, and an occupancy around 50%.

The county's overall rate for the number of inpatient beds used by COVID patients was at 15.16% Tuesday.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.