Covid-19 Visitation Guidelines

We understand the importance of seeing and keeping in touch with your loved ones at Matheny. Our staff keeps a close eye on all relevant COVID-19 data for our state and community, as well as all regulations we are required to follow as an institution. We sincerely apologize for any confusion caused by changing guidelines, but please keep in mind that everything is done in order to ensure the safety of our patients, staff, and community. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

All visitors are encouraged to check this page for relevant updates before each visit. The page will be maintained regularly. For general frequently asked questions about visitations and Matheny’s COVID-19 policies, look here.

On-Site Visits | Home Visits | Social Worker Contacts | Health Metrics

On-Site Visits

On-Site Visitation Status

As of June 10, 2022

YELLOW ZONE: On-site visits are currently permitted.

GREEN ZONE: On-site visits are currently permitted.

RED ZONE: On-site visits are currently permitted.

For all on-site visits, there will be a staff facilitator. The facilitator is a social worker or behaviorist who will assist and coordinate on-site visits.

Facilitator Contact Information: (908) 930-3396

For more information on vaccination rules for visitors, visitation time slots, and the visit scheduling process, please see our COVID-19 FAQ page.

Home Visits

Families/guardians will receive an email each week from Dr. Balboni regarding home visitation. Please check the home visitation charts in the email to determine if levels are appropriate for your vaccination/residence situation. The most current home visitation chart is located below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: “Up To Date” vaccination means a person has had their initial vaccination series and their booster. The meaning of these two terms is one area where the DOH goes by CDC recommendations, please see the description of each and the timing of boosters here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html

All healthcare staff in the state of New Jersey must be “Up To Date” with their vaccinations. Home visitation will also be using this term. You will see the adjustment to the criteria below where instead of “Fully Vaccinated” it says “Up To Date”, meaning the criteria for home visits is based on being Up To Date. This is effective at the same time as it is for healthcare staff, which is March 1st.

Current home visitation criteria:

Up To Date Patient Going To Up To Date Household Criteria For Visit Home
Residential County and Receiving County	Moderate or Low for at least 2 prior weeks
Transmission Rate:	Less than 1
Visitors During Home Visit:	No Not Up To Date visitors/non-household members
Tips Out During Home Visit:	No high risk excursions/trips (indoor dining, movies, shipping mall, etc.) during home visit
Requirements For Return From Visit Home
Screening Upon Return:	YES
Testing Upon Return:	NO
Quarantine Upon Return:	NO

Up To Date Patient Going To Not Up To Date Household (1 Or More Members Not Up To Date)
Residential County and Receiving County	Low for at least 2 prior weeks
Transmission Rate:	Less than .75
Visitors During Home Visit:	No Not Up To Date visitors/non-household members
Tips Out During Home Visit:	No high risk excursions/trips (indoor dining, movies, shipping mall, etc.) during home visit
Requirements For Return From Visit Home
Screening Upon Return:	YES
Testing Upon Return:	YES, PCR test upon return
Quarantine Upon Return:	YES, until negative result from PCR test

Not Up To Date Patient Going To Up To Date Household
Residential County and Receiving County	Low for at least 2 prior weeks
Transmission Rate:	Less than .75
Visitors During Home Visit:	No Not Up To Date visitors/non-household members
Tips Out During Home Visit:	No high risk excursions/trips (indoor dining, movies, shipping mall, etc.) during home visit
Requirements For Return From Visit Home
Screening Upon Return:	YES
Testing Upon Return:	YES, PCR test upon return
Quarantine Upon Return:	YES, until negative result from PCR test

Not Up To Date Patient Going To Not Up To Date Household (1 Or More Members Not Up To Date)
Residential County and Receiving County	Low for at least 2 prior weeks
Transmission Rate:	Less than .50
Visitors During Home Visit:	No Not Up To Date visitors/non-household members
Tips Out During Home Visit:	No high risk excursions/trips (indoor dining, movies, shipping mall, etc.) during home visit
Requirements For Return From Visit Home
Screening Upon Return:	YES
Testing Upon Return:	YES, PCR test upon day 5 of return
Quarantine Upon Return:	YES, until negative result from PCR test

COVID Activity Levels & Transmission Rate information:

This information will be updated weekly in conjunction with Dr. Balboni’s weekly email sent out every Thursday. For more information about the transmission rate and COVID-19 Activity Level (CALI score), please refer “Relevant State & Community Health Metrics” section.

For week ending: 6/4/2022

Transmission Rate: 0.86

Current State COVID-19 Activity Levels:

Regions that have been Low (Green) for the previous two weeks: none currently

Region has been Moderate (Yellow) for the previous two weeks: none currently

Region has been neither of the above: Northwest, Northeast, Central West, Central East, South West, Southeast

If transmission rate and COVID-19 activity levels are appropriate for your situation, please call the following to schedule your home visit:

Hospital: The home visit hotline is 908-234-0011 ext. 1207.

Group Homes: Call the group home and schedule with either the nurse or group home manager.

Questions? Reach out to your social worker or Dan Balboni, Director of Psychological and Social Services (contact information below).

Social Worker Contacts

Red Zone: Michele D’Amico; mdamico@matheny.org; 908-234-011 ext. 1220

Yellow Zone: Marjorie Cote; mcote@matheny.org; 908-234-011 ext. 1242

Yellow Zone: Danielle Lukas; dlukas@matheny.org; 908-234-011 ext. 1713

Green Zone: Shannon Curry; scurry@matheny.org; 908-234-011 ext. 1274

If you cannot get in touch with your social worker, please contact another social worker for assistance. If needed, you can also contact Dan Balboni, Director of Psychological and Social Services at dbalboni@matheny.org or 908-234-0011 ext. 1762.

Relevant State & Community Health Metrics

Transmission Rate: A rate above 1.00 means that cases, and therefore the pandemic, is on the rise. A rate below 1.00 means cases are decreasing.

Click here to view the New Jersey COVID-19 Dashboard.

CALI Report: This report considers current cases as well as additional risk factors for a given area. This gives us a look at the current risk in a more focused/specific area. When it comes to home visitation planning, both the Matheny campus/group home area AND your home region are important.

Outbreak Status: Matheny has a responsibility to ensure that we are not allowing spread of COVID-19 in our hospital, group homes, or the surrounding communities. If a residential zone or Matheny group home is considered to be in a COVID-19 outbreak, Matheny must pause visitation (in or out) of that zone or home. That zone or home will not be open for any visitation until COVID-19 cases are resolved.