by J.D. Davidson
Ohio nursing home residents are a step closer to having visitors during the next pandemic or state of emergency after the General Assembly passed a bill that requires long-term care facilities to create a visitation plan to allow compassionate caregivers to enter facilities.
Substitute House Bill 120 outlines criteria for compassionate care visitations in long-term care facilities under CMS guidance during any future epidemic, pandemic and state of emergency.
“This bill seeks to ensure necessary compassionate care access for our seniors, so that the isolation experienced during COVID-19 will never happen again,” Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, said. “This access will provide meaningful human interaction critical to sustaining life, happiness, and dignity for our seniors and loved ones.”
The bill, which now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine, recently was amended in Senate Health Committee to expand beyond COVID-19 to include any future epidemic, pandemic or state of emergency. The changes allow visitation at any time as long as compassionate caregivers adhere to long-term care facility guidelines.
Long-term care residents were cut off from loved ones for months during the COVID-19 pandemic as visitation was eliminated by the Ohio Department of Health.
Proponents believe removing those types of restrictions in the future will benefit residents.
“HB 120 will greatly improve the quality of life for residents, by returning the ability for them to connect with others,” Rep. Mark Fraizer, R-Newark, said. “With many months of residents being forced to adapt to ever changing visitation requirements, HB 120 will drastically improve the quality of life of our long-term-care residents.”
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
