Contacting & Visiting Patients
Visiting Patients
WakeMed believes in the positive effect that visitation can have on patients and complies with North Carolina’s No Patient Left Alone Act. Friends and family are welcome to visit a patient at any time in accordance with the patient's wishes with a few exceptions. Please see the “Unit-Specific Visitation Requirements” section below to ensure a safe visit in our specialty areas. WakeMed will only limit visitation when needed to protect the health and safety of patients, visitors or WakeMed staff members.
Children
Children of all ages who are free of contagious illnesses are welcome in our hospitals during standard visiting hours – 8 am to 8 pm daily. They are not permitted to stay overnight. They must be supervised by an adult (who is not the patient). Please speak with the patient’s nurse or physician before bringing a child to visit to ensure it is safe for the patient. Visitors under age 18 are not permitted to stay overnight.
Illness
Please note: If you or your children currently have symptoms of COVID-19 or another acute, contagious illness, please do not visit WakeMed out of respect for our patients.
- Sore throat
- Fever
- Headache
- Coughing, nasal drainage, or stuffy head not related to allergies
- New loss of taste/smell
- Chills
- Generalized body aches
- Diarrhea within the past 24 hours
- Vomiting with the past 24 hours
By entering a WakeMed facility, visitors are attesting that they are free of the above symptoms.
Number of Visitors Permitted in a Patient Room at One Time
Visitors are generally limited to four in a patient room at one time. Visitors must wear a medical-grade mask over their nose and mouth at all times while in a WakeMed facility. Some units or providers have additional guidelines and visitation requirements to ensure the patient can rest and heal as appropriate. Please see the “Unit-Specific Visitation Requirements” section below to ensure a safe visit in our specialty areas. Exceptions will be evaluated by the hospital’s chief medical officer or administrator. The number of visitors permitted in a patient room may change if there is a surge in COVID-19 cases or other contagious illnesses (ex. influenza, RSV) in the community or our hospitals.
- Nighttime Visitors -- The patient’s support person is welcome to stay overnight. Children under age 18 are not permitted to stay overnight. Visitors are not permitted to be in waiting rooms or public areas (ex. cafeterias) overnight.
Quiet Hours
Our units do observe quiet hours every day from 8 pm to 6 am. Critical care units may have additional quiet hours during the day to allow for optimal patient healing.
Recording by Patients & Visitors (photos, video, audio)
Recording includes photography, video and audio. WakeMed is committed to respecting the privacy of our patients, visitors and staff; therefore, family members and friends must have the consent of you or your legal representative before recording the patient for any use. Recording of any type of medical procedure is not allowed. Because caring for patients is our primary focus, physicians and staff can ask to have the recording stopped at any time due to patient care needs and other circumstances. Patients and visitors may not record other patients and visitors, employees, volunteers or physicians without the written consent of the individual. Anyone who refuses to comply with WakeMed’s policy may be asked to leave or may have their recording equipment confiscated.
Social Media
If you or your family are engaging in social media activities while you are a patient at WakeMed, please remember to respect the privacy of the people surrounding you including other patients, their families/friends, physicians, and WakeMed employees. Please note that WakeMed employees, providers and volunteers are not allowed to send or receive friend requests and they should not be tagged in any social media photos. They have been instructed to remove any tags from pictures on social media sites that patients or their friends/family members have posted.
Unit-Specific Visitation Requirements
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OB Emergency Department (OB ED), Labor, Delivery & Postpartum
- The patient’s support person and a doula may accompany the patient in the OB ED.
- We honor birth plans in collaboration with the care provider and clinical team. Up to three visitors plus the support person (for a total of four) are welcome for the labor and childbirth experience at the discretion of the patient.
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Cesarean birth visitation is limited to the support person.
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Emergency Departments (EDs)
- The patient’s support person is welcome at all times.
- The support person and one other visitor can be at the bedside at one time. This number may be expanded with input from the support person and the care team.
- Patients who are admitted for mental health reasons may have additional visitation restrictions.
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Children’s Hospital & Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
- Parents or other support persons (at least 18 years old as designated by the legal guardian) are encouraged to be with the pediatric patient 24 hours a day.
- Siblings ages 12 and older are welcome for short, daytime visits. They are not permitted to stay overnight.
- A pediatric patient can have up to four visitors (this number includes the support person) – three visitors in the pediatric intensive care unit
- Patients who are admitted for mental health reasons may have additional visitation restrictions.
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Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- Parents or other support persons are encouraged to be with the baby 24 hours a day.
- Two visitors (including parents and support persons) at one time are permitted at the bedside. This number may be expanded with input from the support person and the care team.
- Children under age 12 are not permitted in the Cary Hospital NICU. Siblings of NICU patients at Raleigh Campus and North Hospital are welcome for short, daytime visits.
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Surgical Services
- Before Surgery
- An adult patient can have one support person and one additional visitor with them the day of the procedure. A pediatric patient can have up to two support persons, parents or guardians with them the day of the procedure.
- Patients are asked if they would like a person of their choosing to be present during peri-anesthesia care.
- The support person receives direction on visitor expectations when the visitor is with the patient in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).
- Children (age 12 and older) are welcome. Before a child visits, the patient, the support person and the primary nurse must agree that the child is prepared for the visit.
- After Surgery
- The support person is welcome at the bedside once the care team determines it is safe.
- Additional visitors may be welcome with input from the support person and the primary nurse.
- Critical Care/Intensive Care Units
- The patient’s support person is welcome at all times. Additional visitors may be welcome with input from the patient, support person and the primary nurse.
- Fresh and dried flowers, potted plants and helium balloons are not permitted in critical care areas.
- Rehabilitation Hospital
- Patients can have up to four visitors (including the support person) in private rooms; up to two visitors (including the support person) in semi-private rooms. Visitor numbers may be expanded with input from the support person and the care team.
- The support person is welcome to spend the night in private rooms, but, in general, not in semi-private rooms. Exceptions are considered with input from patients, support persons and the primary nurse.
- Support persons of minors are encouraged to remain with patients at all times.
- Mental Health Patients Located in WakeMed Inpatient Units and Clinical Evaluation Areas
- Adult support persons are welcome depending on the health and safety needs of the patient.
- Support persons and visitors should work closely with the patient’s primary nurse to determine if visitation is permitted and appropriate.
- Interventional Radiology
- In general, an adult support person is welcome to be with the patient before the procedure but not during the procedure.
- Support persons who must be in the room during a radiographic procedure will wear protective equipment as instructed by the care team. WakeMed Physician Practices, Outpatient Rehab Practices & Other Outpatient Facilities and Services
- Before Surgery
WakeMed Physician Practices, Outpatient Rehab Practices & Other Outpatient Facilities and Services
- Adults may have two visitors of any age accompany them to an appointment.
- Pediatric patients may have two visitors, one of any age and one required guardian age 18 or older, who must accompany them to an appointment.
- Masking is required for patients and visitors age 2+ who have symptoms of respiratory illness and in practices where an abundance of immunocompromised patients are served.
Clergy
Clergy members may visit a patient, in addition to the support person and visitors. Clergy members must comply with all hospital requirements.
Lodging
Listing of local hotels/motels near our facilities for out of town visitors.
Gift Shops
WakeMed Gift Shops sell plants, flowers, balloons, a large variety of gifts, snacks, beverages, magazines, personal toiletry items and greeting cards. We also offer products to support the care needs of new moms and babies, children, physical rehab patients, cancer patients and we deliver flowers and gifts to inpatients.
Email A Patient
Well-wishers can send messages to patients by filling out a form below. Please select the form for the appropriate hospital and complete the form submission. Messages are delivered Monday through Friday during regular business hours by volunteers. Messages received after 1:00PM may not be delivered until the next business day. Please note that email messages are not secure, we maintain the right not to deliver messages that are deemed inappropriate and due to some sensitivity and confidentiality requirements, email messages will not be delivered to certain units and patients.
Postal Mail
Letters and packages for patients are delivered Monday through Friday by WakeMed volunteers. Letters and parcels that arrive after patients have left are forwarded to their homes.
Raleigh Campus
[Patient's Full Name]
[Room number if known]
3000 New Bern Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27610
Cary Hospital
[Patient's Full Name]
[Room number if known]
1900 Kildaire Farm Rd.
Cary, NC 27518
North Hospital
[Patient's Full Name]
[Room number if known]
10000 Falls of Neuse Rd
Raleigh, NC 27614
Tobacco Use
WakeMed campuses are all tobacco free. The use of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, is not allowed inside or outside the hospital.
Chapel – Spiritual Care
A meditation chapel is located on the third floor of Raleigh Campus and the first floor of Cary Hospital. A meditation room is located on the first floor of the Women’s Hospital at WakeMed North, just off the main lobby.
The chapels and meditation room are open at all times for prayer, meditation and times of silence. If you would like to talk to a chaplain, please ask the nurse to contact a chaplain for you or call 919-350-8000 and ask that a chaplain be paged.
Wireless Internet Access
For the convenience of our patients and visitors, free wireless Internet access is available on your own laptop computer or smart phone at most WakeMed locations.