Women's Caucus Launches Nursing Home Investigation

Press release from Connecticut House Republican Office:

June 18, 2020

State Representative Leslee Hill (R-Canton/Avon) participated in a news briefing today that was held by the Women's Bipartisan Legislative Caucus. The lawmakers discussed their work related to how COVID-19 has impacted nursing homes residents, their families and the nursing home front line healthcare workers across the state and to announce their recommendations.
"Our parents and grandparents are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, and it has been particularly harmful to those living in a nursing home or assisted living facility," said Rep. Hill. "I strongly believe that we need greater reporting requirements to improve operations and existing protocols of congregate elderly living facilities. Specifically, we are looking at how staff interact with residents, how residents interact with each other, and how often the facilities and equipment are cleaned."

As of June 10, according to COVID-19 testing data compiled by the Department of Public Health, Avon has reported 86 cases and 18 deaths from this population, and Canton has reported 57 cases and 18 deaths.

Most of the confirmed cases in both Canton and Avon are made up of individuals from the aging population. The governor did impose a ban to visitors early-on in the pandemic, which limited the potential of outsiders bringing the virus into these facilities with them.

"Despite a good faith effort to minimize the effect of the virus, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted our elderly community. As state lawmakers, we need to figure out what went wrong so our vulnerable are protected. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address these issues quickly," said Rep. Hill.

The caucus recommendations will require future legislative action.

This press release was produced by Connecticut House Republican Office. The views expressed here are the author's own.