Four months ago, Michigan glowed red on COVID-19 maps. Hundreds of patients packed hospital intensive care units in the southern part of the state, and hospitals statewide rapidly put strict new visitor policies in place to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. ICU teams had to scramble to connect with the families of critically ill and dying patients in new ways. Now, a new study documents how 49 of those hospitals reacted, and how those efforts varied. It finds that virtually all hospitals put in place a "no visitors" blanket policy. But 59% of hospitals did allow some exceptions to this rule, most often for end-of-life visits, even at the pandemic's regional peak in April and early May.
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