Nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospice facilities; public health emergency, etc.

State Board of Health; public health emergency; patient visitation; notice to family; emergency. Requires each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility to establish a protocol to allow each patient to receive visits, consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as directed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the State Board of Health. Such protocol shall include provisions describing (i) the conditions, including conditions related to the presence of COVID-19 in the facility and community, under which in-person visits will be allowed and under which in-person visits will not be allowed and visits will be required to be virtual; (ii) the requirements with which in-person visitors will be required to comply to protect the health and safety of the patients and staff of the facility; (iii) the types of technology, including interactive audio or video technology, and the staff support necessary to ensure visits are provided; and (iv) the steps the facility will take in the event of a technology failure, service interruption, or documented emergency that prevent visits from occurring. Such protocol shall also include (a) a statement of the frequency with which visits, including virtual and in-person, where appropriate, will be allowed, which shall be at least once every 10 calendar days for each patient; (b) a provision authorizing a patient or the patient's personal representative to waive or limit visitation, provided that such waiver or limitation is included in the patient's health record; and (c) a requirement that each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility publish on its website or communicate to each patient or the patient's authorized representative, in writing or via electronic means, the facility's plan for providing visits to patients. The bill contains an emergency clause and requires the Department of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.