Lifespan hospitals put visitor restrictions in place

The Lifespan hospital network is taking precautions to protect patients from the both the seasonal flu and the swine flu.

The network said Monday it will immediately put certain restrictions on visitors to its hospitals:  Rhode Island Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, The Miriam Hospital and Newport Hospital.

Children younger than 18 and anyone who has flulike illness symptoms, such as a fever and a cough or a fever and a sore throat, may not visit patients in any of the four hospitals.

“We would be remiss if we did not take steps that we believe will help minimize as much as possible the spread of both the seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu viruses,“ Lifespan senior vice president and chief quality officer Mary Reich Cooper said in a news release.

Cooper said exceptions may be made in special circumstances and that the restrictions may change as the flu season progresses.