A unanimous Texas Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would guarantee that people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities could still receive visits from loved ones even in a pandemic.
Senate Bill 25 would allow residents to designate an "essential caregiver" who could not be turned away and who must be allowed to have in-person visits lasting at least two hours a day.
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said her bill was inspired by many tragic stories of nursing home residents who were cut off from loved ones as facilities struggled to limit a disease that spread rapidly and was deadly to older people.
The forced isolation was particularly hard on residents with dementia, she said.
"We were working to protect all of Texas, but when we were doing some of those protections, we were also creating some harm," Kolkhorst said, adding that she did not blame facilities that struggled with an impossible situation.
"It's not the nursing homes' fault. It's not the operators, it's certainly not the nurses aides. They love it when we're in there. We give then support," she said. "But these were the saddest of sad stories."
Kolkhorst fought back tears during an exchange with Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston.
"This is a really important bill of how we treat the most fragile of our society, and we have isolated them," she said.
"We have isolated them for far too long," Bettencourt added. "This is maybe the last year of somebody's life, and they're walled off from their family."
Under SB 25, nursing homes, state supported living centers and long-term care facilities would be able to suspend visits by designated essential caregivers for seven days — with approval from the state Health and Human Services Commission — if in-person visitation "poses a serious community health risk." Extensions could be requested in seven-day increments.
A person designated as an essential caregiver could be barred from visits for violating a facility's health and safety protocols, which cannot be stricter than similar rules for staff and employees.
Kolkhorst said the bill would create a right for in-person visits by essential caregivers — defined as a family member, friend, guardian or other person selected by the resident — "so we can go see our loved ones if there ever is another declared pandemic."
The Senate also voted 29-0 in favor of Senate Joint Resolution 19, which would ask voters to amend the Texas Constitution to create a right to visits by essential caregivers.
Both measures will next go to the Texas House, where nearly identical legislation is in the early stages of consideration.
