Information for Visitors

Directions, parking & lodging While you are here Caregiver support

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center recognizes the importance of visitors for our patients. The following guidelines ensure patients and their visitors get maximum benefits from the experience without compromising patient care, confidentiality and security.

Visitors are allowed with the patient’s permission. Visitors can obtain the patient’s room number at the information desk in the hospital’s ground floor lobby. Patients may request that their care team members limit or restrict visitors at any time.

Patients in our Intensive Care Unit and other areas have additional criteria for visitors. Please sign in with the Nursing staff on the unit you are visiting for more information or instructions.

Roswell Park does not discriminate against visitors based on race, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, nationality or disability.

Please note: Flowers and plants are not permitted on some units. Consult with unit staff members or the Roswell Park Gift Shop personnel for alternatives.

Visitor policies

• Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day
• We ask that patients have no more than two (2) visitors at a time. Exceptions to this rule may be approved by the nurse manager.
• All inpatient visitors must register at the lobby information desk and receive a photo identification sticker to wear during their visit.
• The units on the fifth floor, the Intermediate Care Unit and the Intensive Care Unit may have additional criteria for visitors. Please check with your nurse for more information.
• Outpatients are allowed to bring up to two (2) support people with them to an outpatient appointment, with the exception of the Chemotherapy/Infusion Clinic where only one (1) support person is allowed due to limited space.

Patient status

During normal business hours, family and friends can get updates on your status by calling your room or the nurses’ station on your floor. They also can call the Information Desk at 716-845-1523 and ask to be transferred to your room or nurses’ station. After business hours, your family may call your nurses’ station or Central Access at 716-845-2300.

Influenza Season, Coronavirus and other Illnesses

Your loved ones depend on us to give them the best possible care, and we need your help as a partner in putting our patients first. Many of our patients have compromised immune systems and are particularly susceptible to illness.

• If you have traveled internationally or are experiencing fever, cough, congestion, nausea, body aches or other cold symptoms, please reconsider your visit.
• Anyone with communicable infectious diseases should refrain from visiting patients. Please share this policy with friends and family members who plan to visit or accompany patients during clinic visits.
• We ask that visitors do not come to Roswell Park if they have had an influenza-like illness — a temperature of 100°F (37.8°C) or higher, cough and/or a sore throat — in the last seven days.
• All Roswell Park patients and visitors should review our COVID-19 webpage for the latest updates on screening and information regarding your appointment.
• Per New York State guidelines that no longer require restrictive visitation rules, inpatient visitors are no longer required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This also waives the COVID-19 testing requirement for non-vaccinated visitors. All visitors must continue to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms or exposures.

Visitor courtesy

For the benefit of our patients, Roswell Park asks visitors to maintain these courtesies:

• Please do not visit if you are sick or recently have been sick with a cold or flu.
• Please wash and/or use hand sanitizer before and after entering a patient’s room.
• Make your visits brief. Patients need rest to recover.
• Remember, the patient may be in pain. Don’t sit on the patient’s bed.
• You may be asked to leave the room during patient examinations.
• If the patient’s door is closed, or if a sign is posted, please check at the nurses’ station before entering.

Visitor services

While waiting for a patient in surgery or during visiting hours, visitors may take advantage of these services available within Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center:

• Family lounges are available on each floor of the hospital.
• Free wireless internet is available throughout the hospital.
• The Resource Center for Patients and Families offers cancer information and support; a complimentary wig program for cancer patients; a lending library of laptops, DVDs, and CDs; and printers. The staff will deliver any of items directly to inpatients by request.
• A Spiritual Care Office and Meditation and Prayer Room are on the hospital’s first floor (on the bridge to the Carlton Building).
• Hospitality and food
• Gift Shop