SEN. KOLKHORST’S ESSENTIAL CAREGIVER LEGISLATION GAINS SENATE APPROVAL

  

The Texas Senate has unanimously approved Senator Lois Kolkhorst’s legislation aimed at strengthening visitation rights for loved ones in long-term care facilities.

Passed with bipartisan support, Senate Bill 25 and Senate Joint Resolution 19 now head to the Texas House for consideration.  The legislation codifies a resident’s right to designate an essential caregiver, and directs the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish guidelines to ensure resident and staff safety during caregiving visits.  Kolkhorst said the guidelines will provide certainty and consistency for caregivers, residents and long-term care providers.

During the early response to COVID-19, many Texas residents in nursing homes and similar settings were not allowed to maintain contact and personal visits and family for months due to the public health emergency.

Kolkhorst said visiting a loved one in a nursing home should be a right, not a privilege, adding that friends and family provide emotional support and protect residents from unseen neglect.  She said if another health emergency occurs, the state’s caregivers “will always have a way to safely go inside a facility for scheduled visits and ensure that their loved one’s physical, social, and emotional needs are being met.”

Kolkhorst said while there is a public health mission to protect vulnerable populations from COVID-19, she believes that pursuit “should never send residents into a state of solitary confinement with no personal contact from family or friends for months.”  She said this legislation sees that the most fragile Texans “will never be left alone again.”