After COVID-19 closed nursing homes to visitors, bill to ensure access clears Texas Senate

AUSTIN — Nursing home residents could have loved ones visit during a public health emergency under a bill the Texas Senate passed Wednesday in response to facility closures at the start of the pandemic.

“This guarantees that people will never be locked away again,” said Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham.

The bill is the first piece of COVID-19 legislation to pass the chamber. The session is expected to focus heavily on fallout from the pandemic that has killed more than 45,000 Texans.Senate Bill 25 gives long-term care residents the right to name an essential caregiver, who can visit them for at least two hours a day. It passed unanimously and now heads to the House for further debate.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick named the bill a priority.

Last year concerns arose about the mental health of residents isolated from friends and family for months. At the start of the pandemic, the state stopped visitation at long-term care facilities in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus that tore through senior living facilities with devastating consequences. After lobbying from families, the state began allowing in-person visits from essential caregivers, a policy the bill would enshrine into law.

“This is a really important bill of how we treat the most fragile in our society, and we have isolated them,” said Kolkhorst, who authored the bill.

“And we have isolated them for far too long,” Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, responded.

Under the bill, a facility could ask the state to suspend the essential caregiver visits for up to seven days if they pose a “serious community health risk.” The safety protocols a facility sets for essential caregivers can’t be more strict than those for staff.

Industry leaders generally support the bill.

“We think visitation is important and it should be allowed whenever possible,” said George Linial, president and CEO of LeadingAge Texas, which represents nonprofits that work in aging services.

He did raise concerns that the requirement for daily two-hour visits could prove a logistical challenge at large facilities with hundreds of residents.

Mary Nichols of Forney, who formed the Facebook group Texas Caregivers for Compromise last year to push for greater family access to nursing homes, said Wednesday she’s “extremely grateful” the bill passed.

“We feel heard,” said Nichols.