(West Chester, PA) - As COVID-19 cases continue to decline across our region and nationally, Penn Medicine is updating masking guidelines for clinical facilities. Providers or patients who work in or receive care at multiple health system locations should be aware that there will be variation in different facilities, due to different municipal requirements for healthcare facilities.
Starting Tuesday May 2, 2023 at 7:00 AM, masking will be optional, with some important exceptions, in all Penn Medicine inpatient and ambulatory locations outside of Philadelphia, including at Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, and Princeton Health. Please review the specific guidelines below:
Masking is REQUIRED for patients, visitors, and employees providing direct care in:
- Emergency Department waiting rooms
- Dedicated Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Transplant clinics
- Infusion Centers
- In the room of an admitted patient with a malignancy, solid organ transplant, or other severely immunocompromised condition
- Dedicated inpatient behavioral health units
- Open hemodialysis units
- Any setting or encounter where a patient or family member requests that staff wear a mask
Masking is also REQUIRED when:
- Any patient has respiratory symptoms (both patient and employees must mask)
Please Note: Visitors who are experiencing respiratory symptoms may not enter any facility, even with a mask.
We appreciate your continued commitment to protecting the health and safety of our most vulnerable patients, and each other.