Senator Eldridge and Representative Jim Arciero File Nursing Home Resident and Worker Safety Legislation
Legislation would give the Department of Public Health greater authority to intervene in nursing homes and require nursing home employees to be tested for illnesses, including for Covid-19.
Boston, MA - As a result of disturbing reports of Covid-19 outbreaks occurring in nursing homes across Massachusetts, State Senator Jamie Eldridge and State Representative Jim Arciero have filed S.D 2914, An Act Relative to Patient Safety in Nursing Homes.
“It has been heartbreaking and outrageous to have so many nursing home residents and healthcare workers contract Covid-19, including dozens of deaths at nursing home hotspots across the state,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). “The coronavirus pandemic has made it very clear that there is not enough state oversight of nursing homes, often of which are owned by out-of-state for-profit corporations. The Department of Public Health (DPH) needs to have more tools in its toolbox to intervene in troubled nursing homes, including inspections, and require that all healthcare workers be tested for illnesses, including the coronavirus. We owe that to nursing home residents, nurses, and all of their loved ones.”
“Given the recent circumstances at the Littleton Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley, and at other nursing homes and assisted living facilities across our state, this legislation is timely and critically important to protect our most vulnerable individuals, our seniors, and those dedicated professionals who care for them,” said State Representative Jim Arciero, who is the House sponsor of this bill. “Because of the apparent lack of transparency and failure to follow established public health protocols in this pandemic, the bill would require that in any future state of emergency, that the staff and caregivers of such facilities would be required to be tested for certain communicable diseases and have their temperatures checked before they could work. In a severe case of an outbreak, the Department of Public Health would be given the ability to take control of the operations of a facility which is not measuring up to their regulations. This action would prevent further cases or infection and stop more deaths from happening.”
S.D 2914, An Act Relative to Patient Safety in Nursing Homes contains the following provisions:
Give the Department of Public Health (DPH) authority to take control of a nursing home during a public health emergency
Allow the DPH to inspect nursing homes at any time
Require nursing home employees to undergo testing for diseases and temperature checks, including viruses such as Covid-19.
###
