Visiting Hours & Guidelines

The Ottawa Hospital has open visiting hours

We encourage you to visit your loved one because we know that having family and friends nearby helps reduce anxiety and isolation and improves healing and recovery for our patients. Patients and their families are an important part of our care team.

Our nurses will discuss our visitor policy with the patient and determine one or two key contacts. When you are planning to visit the hospital, please discuss your visit with the key contact(s) to ensure that your loved one is feeling up to having visitors, and to coordinate with other visitors so that their room is not crowded.

The hospital has quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. If you plan to visit your loved one during these hours, please try to discuss in advance with your loved one’s key contact(s) and notify the care team so that they are expecting you. We ask that you help us maintain a quiet, restful environment. Our staff will also take care to be as quiet as possible during these times.

Family may be asked to wait in the waiting area while the care team provides care. However, sometimes family may ask or be asked to stay so they can better understand the care needed for their loved one after discharge.

Sometimes, we may need to restrict the length of visits or the number of visitors to protect patients with weak immune systems, prevent the spread of infections from one unit to another, allow for treatment, or ensure safety.  If your loved one is on a mental health unit, please talk to their doctor or care team about their treatment plan before visiting during hospital quiet hours (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), since there may be additional restrictions.

Children under 14 years old are welcome in most areas of the hospital but must be directly supervised by an adult who is not the patient. Units with vulnerable patients might need to restrict visits by children in order to protect both the patient’s and the child’s health.