Effective Monday, April 10, 2023, North Country Healthcare (NCH) will no longer require masks within its facilities, with limited exceptions (employees within the quarantine timeframe, and employees with mild COVID symptoms who may be required to work.)
Citing a decline in COVID-19 transmission and increasing population immunity, the New Hampshire Hospital Association recently reasserted that hospitals and health care facilities remain “safe places for patients to receive both routine and emergency care.”
Although the wearing of masks will no longer be required within its facilities, NCH and its affiliates will continue to make masks available for those who feel more comfortable wearing one. Furthermore, NCH providers, employees and volunteers will wear masks when within close contact of anyone requesting that one be worn.
“From the pandemic’s beginning, NCH has continued to follow best practices through data and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control,” commented Ed Laverty, PA-C, Incident Command Chair. “The safety and comfort of our patients, providers, employees and volunteers will continue to remain the highest of priorities.”
North Country Healthcare thanks all providers, employees, volunteers and visitors who adhered to the mask mandate during more than three years of the pandemic.