Samaritan Health (All Locations) to Require Facemasks as of January 19, 2024

Published on: January 18, 2024

WATERTOWN, NY – There is an uptick in COVID-19, influenza, and other respiratory illnesses throughout the state. Following a recommendation by the New York State Department of Health, all Samaritan Health locations will now require facemasks in all patient care areas and public spaces within Samaritan facilities. 

This new designation of masks-required impacts Samaritan’s outpatient locations including specialty clinics, family health centers or lab and imaging locations. The Medical Center, Walker Center for Cancer Care, Emergency Department, and our long term care facilities remain masked, too.

Thank you for your patience as we try to minimize the spread of COVID-19, influenza, and other respiratory illnesses and keep our patients, residents, visitors, and staff protected.

We will reevaluate the need for masking as positivity decreases in our community. Any further updates to this change will be added to samaritanhealth.com/news.