Florida considers visitors to nursing homes

Husbands, wives, daughters, sons or anyone who considers themselves an essential caregiver for a senior in an eldercare facility should be allowed to visit their loved one again.

A state task force will make that recommendation to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among other suggestions, this week.

The task force wants facilities to identify one caregiver — or more if manageable — and allow that person back in to resume helping with the care of their family member. Florida’s nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have been on a virtual lockdown since mid-March, the result of an executive order by the governor.

As families pressed to see their loved one again, DeSantis formed the Task Force on the Safe and Limited Re-Opening of LongTerm Care Facilities on Aug. 6 and authorized members to move forward with a sense of urgency.

Task force member Mary Daniel says she has been doing personal care, such as cutting toenails, for her husband of 24 years with Alzheimer’s during the lockdown. She is able to visit him because she took a job as a dishwasher at his assisted living facility.

“No one is doing it. I am needed in that regard. I am going in and doing it,” Daniel said, urging the task force to let caregivers resume visits with face masks and other precautions.

The task force agreed that they will recommend facilities screen the designated essential caregiver, train the person how to use proper protective gear, and possibly even test him or her along with staff. They also will require the caregivers to sign a visitor log for contact-tracing purposes and sign an acknowledgment of expectations, such as informing the facility if developing symptoms after a visit.

“I think we have a consensus on essential caregivers to recommend for the governor’s consideration, and now we need to consider general visitors,” said Mary Mayhew, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration. For general visitors, the scope of what needs to be considered is greater.

Considerations include whether to allow indoor or only outdoor visits, whether to tie visitations to a time period that a facility is COVID-free, whether staff will monitor visits to ensure social distancing and limit the duration, whether a facility will provide visitors with masks and other protective equipment, and how many visitors will be allowed at a time.

Task force member Emmett Reed, executive director for the Florida Health Care Association, the state’s largest advocacy organization for long-term care providers, said he is concerned about the possible toll new visitor requirements would put on staff.

“We are hitting our required staffing, but there is a serious crisis going on,” he said. “This will add additional responsibilities for them. Please keep that in consideration.”

The task force will meet again Wednesday to create guidelines to allow general visitors back in and structure their recommendations for the governor.

“We are talking about visitations, and not through the window. We want to take it beyond, so loved ones can see and hear each other,” Mayhew said. “With the right parameters, temperature checks, PPE, social distancing, we believe that can be supported.”

Mayhew said the task force wants to move quickly, realizing they need to balance the safety of the residents with the mental deterioration due to isolation and loneliness.

Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, also a task force member, said it will be essential to consider the spread of the virus already in a facility — the number of deaths — and what that says about its infection-control practices before opening the door to visitors.

Statewide, at least 4,118 deaths have occurred as of Tuesday among residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities due to COVID-19. That figure accounts for 42% of the state total for coronavirus deaths of residents.

Miami-Dade County has the highest number of long-term care facility deaths, with 663, or 16% of the total. Palm Beach County has had 412 deaths, or 10%, and Broward accounted for 307 deaths, or 7%.

Currently, the only people allowed into the over 7,000 nursing homes, group homes, and assisted-living facilities in Florida are employees, medical professionals, and family members visiting those who are dying or who have suffered a traumatic event.