Ottawa area hospitals restrict visitor access to protect patients and staff members

This is a joint message from the Ottawa area hospitals: Bruyère, CHEO, Montfort, The Ottawa Hospital, The Royal, The University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Queensway Carleton Hospital.

Ottawa, March 16, 2020 – Hospitals in the Ottawa area are restricting visitor access to their facilities as part of their evolving response to the presence of COVID-19 in the city. This is in line with guidance from the Ontario Ministry of Health and action being taken at hospitals across the province.

Anyone planning to visit any of the following hospitals in the Ottawa area should visit that hospital’s website to review the current visitor policy before coming to hospital. Each hospital’s visitor policy is tailored to the needs of that facility.

Hospitals in the area are now restricting access to their buildings to a small number of entrances at each site. Please follow signage posted onsite and be prepared to be screened on arrival for symptoms, travel history and contact history.

To protect vulnerable patients, please:

Do not visit any patient if you have a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing.
Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer when you enter and leave the hospital, and before and after going into a patient’s room.
Whenever possible, maintain a distance of 1 to 2 metres (3 to 6 feet) from those around you.

Hospital patients are at greater risk for infection as their bodies are already working hard to recover from their illness or injury. When germs are brought into the hospital from well-meaning family or visitors, it puts all hospital patients at risk.

Hospitals in the Ottawa area are also stepping up their infection prevention and control to help reduce the possible spread of COVID-19.

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Media contacts:

CHEO: Paddy Moore, pmoore@cheo.on.ca
Bruyère: Jesse Cressman Dickinson, jcressmandickinson@bruyere.org

Montfort: communications@montfort.on.ca

The Ottawa Hospital: Michaela Schreiter, mschreiter@toh.ca

The Royal: Karen Monaghan, karen.monaghan@theroyal.ca

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute: Leigh B. Morris, lmorris@ottawaheart.ca

Queensway Carleton Hospital: Ann Fuller, afuller@qch.on.ca

About CHEO

Based in Canada’s capital, CHEO is a globally renowned health institution with a mission to provide exceptional care and support to children, youth and their families. Opening our doors in 1974, we offer a full range of specialized pediatric care and services to children from eastern and northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut. Our site is home to a hospital, a children’s treatment centre, a school, a research institute, and is affiliated with the University of Ottawa as an academic health science centre. Named Canada’s best health-care employer by Forbes in 2024 and 2025, we are home to more than 6,500 staff, clinicians, scientists and researchers, as well as volunteers – all of whom work together to help children and youth achieve their best lives.