TAMPA,  Fla. — Legislation is making its way through both the Florida House and Senate that would prevent long-term care facilities from banning visitors, like we saw early on in the pandemic during the nursing home lockdown. 

If passed, HB 987 would go into effect on July 1, 2022. For some, the move can’t come soon enough. Kim Kesten of Bradenton said her father’s facility unexpectedly changed its visitation policy a few weeks ago and is now going into lockdown for any case of COVID-19. This despite both federal and state level guidance that states visitation must be allowed.

“I feel like I’m neglecting my dad. I feel like I can’t care for him in the ways a daughter is supposed to care for him,” Kesten said. “And it’s heartbreaking.”

This is where HB 987 would come into play.  It has been sailing through committees and we have now learned lawmakers are hammering out a version that would combine elements of it with SB 988, which is the “No Patient Left Alone Act.”

Among supporters of the legislation is Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been outspoken about the need for patient access.

“If you are in a hospital or in a long-term care facility, you have a right to have your loved ones there with you and I think that’s going to go a long way because when you have people that are in these difficult situation and the best they can do is FaceTime or something like that, that is wholly inadequate,”  DeSantis said, while speaking at a conference for the Federalist Society earlier this week.

The FHCA, which represents the majority of nursing homes in the state, is also now backing the legislation.

“FHCA played a key role in the Governor's Task Force to safely reopen long term care facilities back in 2020,  and last week, our CEO Emmett Reed testified in support of this legislation in committee,” said spokeswoman Kristen Knapp.