CT Eases Nursing Home Visit Restrictions As Coronavirus Drops

CONNECTICUT —The state Department of Public Health has eased some visitation restrictions in Connecticut nursing homes, as the number of positive coronavirus cases continues to ratchet lower in the state.

DPH Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford issued the order expanding visitation, and clarifying for all long-term care facilities their obligations to facilitate visitations however possible to keep residents connected to loved ones on the outside on a regular basis. Since March 9, in-person visitation has been prohibited in Connecticut nursing homes, except for compassionate care visits only in the case where the resident is in the end stages of life when death is imminent.

The purpose of restricting visitation has been to reduce the risk that anyone from the outside could bring COVID-19 infection into a nursing home and endanger the health of residents or staff. Socially distanced visitation has been permitted outside at nursing homes since May. The DPH has encouraged and facilitated as much virtual visitation as possible between nursing home residents and loved ones through the purchase of 800 iPad tablet devices that make video conversations possible.

"Nursing home residents with serious underlying health conditions are the most vulnerable population when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic," Gifford said. "We must continue to protect residents from exposure to this deadly virus, but not at the expense of sacrificing their emotional health and well-being. Residents and their families and loved ones on the outside have a right to see each other on a regular basis. With community-level transmission of COVID-19 consistently low in Connecticut for weeks and the number of new cases in nursing homes dramatically reduced since June, we feel strongly that we can make this happen safely. We and the long-term care industry have an obligation to provide for consistent visitation and we look forward to working together to increase opportunities for residents and families to see each other."

"We know there are incredible infection control concerns, but risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic go well beyond being diagnosed with the virus, said Mairead Painter, Connecticut’s long-term care ombudsman. "Residents not only require high quality person-centered medical care, but it is also essential that their social and emotional needs are met."

The new order on visitation takes the following actions:

General Visitation

• Clarifies that visits may occur more than once per week;
• Requires nursing homes to develop a facility-wide visitation policy;
• Requires facilities to assess the psychosocial needs of each resident and develop individualized visitation plans to meet those needs;
• Extends the minimum time for perimeter visits (e.g. window visits, socially distanced outdoor visits) from 20 minutes to 30 minutes; and
• Requires facilities to designate no less than five days per week as visitation days, one of which shall be a Saturday or Sunday, from which a resident’s visitation schedule can be devised.

Compassionate Care Visits

• Confirms that compassionate care visits may take place indoors and do not require social distancing (touching allowed), as long as visitors and residents wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as determined and supplied by the nursing home;
• Expands compassionate care visits beyond end-of-life visits to include visits for residents who undergo significant change in physical, mental, or psychosocial condition including:
  • Weight loss;
  • Increased sleeping, confusion or agitation;
  • Delirium or other decline in cognition; and
  • New onset or increase of symptoms of mental illness;
• Requires change of condition to be determined in consultation with resident’s physician, physician assistant, or advance practice registered nurse;
• Requires Facilities to suspend expanded Compassionate Care visits for significant changes in physical, mental, or psychosocial conditions whenever the Facility experiences an outbreak of COVID-19. This suspension must be maintained until the Facility has complied with Executive Order No. 7AAA to test nursing home staff and residents weekly, and has had no positive COVID-19 cases among staff or residents for 14 days. A facility is deemed to have a COVID-19 outbreak when the facility has at least one COVID-19 positive case among staff or residents.