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Halton Healthcare Maintains Masking in Public Areas to Protect Patients and Staff

April 21, 2023

Oakville, ON – While Halton Healthcare will adopt a phased in approach to creating mask-friendly facilities, effective April 21, 2023, masks are still mandatory in all public and patient care areas at its facilities including the three hospitals – Georgetown Hospital, Milton Hospital and Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital.

“We are still seeing COVID-19 cases and respiratory diseases in our hospitals and our communities. To provide the best care and to protect our patients, staff and communities we must keep our public masking requirements in place for the time being,” explains Cindy McDonell, Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations at Halton Healthcare. “Keeping our public masking policy in place aligns us with our GTA hospital colleagues and reflects the current assessed risk for COVID infection in our communities.”

“We understand you may see different mask policies in other places and in the community. Our priority is the health and safety of everyone,” continues McDonell “Working with our GTA colleagues, we have assessed the current risk for respiratory illness in our hospitals and communities and will continue to assess and make changes as warranted.”

As of April 21, 2023, most visitors coming to Halton Healthcare facilities, are still asked to:

  • Wear a mask at all times

  • Answer standard screening questions

  • Sanitize hands

So what is new? As part of the phased approach to mask-friendly facilities, staff, physicians and volunteers working where there are no patients are no longer required to wear a mask in their department if it is not required to perform their job. This includes many meeting rooms, breakrooms and shared offices.

“We have a responsibility to keep our facilities as safe as possible for the vulnerable patient populations that we serve, as well as for our staff, physicians and volunteers,” says Jennifer Blue, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Halton Healthcare. “Throughout the pandemic we’ve looked at changes with a cautious and phased approach and are doing the same here.”

Halton Healthcare continues to monitor respiratory illness in our hospitals and communities and will make changes to masking policies as needed. More information related to Halton Healthcare’s COVID-19 safety protocols are available on our website at www.haltonhealthcare.com.