Health

Memorial Hermann Updates COVID-19 Guidelines, Effective April 18, 2022

By George Kovacik | April 18, 2022

HOUSTON, TX – Memorial Hermann remains committed to providing a safe environment for our patients and their loved ones, as well as for our employees, physicians and other members of our workforce. The system continually monitors and evaluates data from multiple sources to assess COVID-19’s current and anticipated impact on our workforce and our community. This ongoing analysis is what drives decisions related to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines and precautions across the organization.

Based on the system’s most recent analysis, effective Monday, April 18, the following key changes will be made to our current COVID-19 guidelines and precautions:

For inpatient facilities:

Health screening will not be required for members of our workforce, patients and visitors prior to entering the facility.
Pre-procedure COVID-19 testing will be required only for specific procedures. Patients who are asymptomatic and can provide proof of up-to-date* COVID-19 vaccination are exempt from pre-procedure testing.

Visitation will return to campus-specific, pre-pandemic guidelines. To learn more about each facility’s visiting hours, visit our location pages.
Masks will be optional for visitors in non-patient care areas. Masks will still be required in all patient care areas.
Safe Wait™ measures will be de-activated.

*A patient is considered up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccination and may be exempt from pre-procedure testing if they have 1) completed a vaccination series, received a booster shot and are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or 2) have been vaccinated with the initial vaccine series within the last six months and are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

For rehab facilities (TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Rehabilitation, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy Outpatient Rehabilitation and TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Medical Clinic):

Health screening will not be required for members of our workforce, patients and visitors prior to entering the facility.
Pre-procedure COVID-19 testing will be required only for specific procedures. Patients who are asymptomatic and can provide proof of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination are exempt from pre-procedure testing.

Visitation guidelines will include the following:
- Inpatient (TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy) – Visitation will return to facility-specific, pre-pandemic guidelines. To learn more about each facility’s visiting hours, visit our location pages.
- Outpatient therapy (TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Rehabilitation and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy Outpatient Rehabilitation) – For adult patients, one accompanying adult (18 and over) visitor will be allowed. For pediatric patients, two accompanying parent/guardian visitors will be allowed.
- TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Medical Clinic – For adult and pediatric patients, two accompanying adult (18 and over) or parent/guardian visitors will be allowed.

Masks will continue to be required at all rehab facilities due to a high-risk patient population.
Safe Wait™ measures will be de-activated.

For MHMG clinics:

Health screening will not be required for members of our workforce, patients and visitors prior to entering the facility.
Pre-procedure COVID-19 testing will be required only for specific procedures. Patients who are asymptomatic and can provide proof of up-to-date* COVID-19 vaccination are exempt from pre-procedure testing.

Visitation guidelines for MHMG clinics will include the following:
- For adult patients, two accompanying adult (18 and over) visitors are allowed.
- For OB and ultrasound patients, two accompanying adult (18 and over) visitors are allowed.
- For pediatric patients, two accompanying parents/guardians are allowed.
Masks will continue to be required at MHMG clinics.
Safe Wait™ measures will be de-activated.

For all other outpatient facilities:

Health screening will not be required for members of our workforce, patients and visitors prior to entering the facility.
Pre-procedure COVID-19 testing will be required only for specific procedures.
Patients who are asymptomatic and can provide proof of up-to-date* COVID-19 vaccination are exempt from pre-procedure testing.
Visitation guidelines for outpatient facilities will include the following:
- For adult patients, one accompanying adult (18 and over) visitor will be allowed.
- For pediatric patients, two accompanying parent/guardian visitors will be allowed.
- Masks will continue to be required at Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center Emergency Departments and Memorial Hermann Cancer Centers due to a high risk patient population.
- Masks are recommended but not required at outpatient facilities.
- Safe Wait™ measures will be de-activated.

For University Place:

Health screening will continue to be required for members of our workforce, patients and visitors prior to entering the facility.
Visitation will return to University Place-specific, pre-pandemic guidelines.
Masks will continue to be required for visitors.

Additionally, in an effort to remove some of the uncertainty that comes with an everchanging COVID-19 environment and allow our workforce to remain focused on providing exceptional service and patient care, we have introduced a new systemwide COVID-19 Risk Matrix. The COVID-19 Risk Matrix determines systemwide COVID-19 guidelines and precautions based on two data sources:

The CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level Tool – The tool helps communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium or high depending on the number of hospital beds being used, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.
City of Houston Wastewater Monitoring Dashboard – The City of Houston studies samples of wastewater collected from wastewater treatment plants across the city to understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in our community. The dashboard shows the level of viral load in the wastewater, which can indicate an upcoming surge in cases.

Going forward, Memorial Hermann’s level of COVID-19 risk (low, medium or high) will be determined based on the CDC Community Transmission Level or the City of Houston Wastewater Positivity Rate (whichever is higher) after a two-week sustainment period. The activation of a new Memorial Hermann risk level (and effective date for updated system guidelines/precautions) will occur on the next business day following a two-week sustainment period of determining data.

As a result of a sustained CDC Low Community Level and Wastewater Positivity Rate of less than 5 percent, Memorial Hermann’s current COVID-19 risk level is low, which is why the updated COVID-19 guidelines and precautions for the low risk level – which are referenced above – will go into effect Monday, April 18.

Memorial Hermann will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation in the Greater Houston area and take appropriate action to keep our workforce, physicians, patients, visitors and members of the community safe.