ATLANTA (AP) - Every Georgia hospital or nursing home patient could designate at least one person who would have at least one hour of access each day under a bill approved by the state House on Monday.
House Bill 290 is a response to hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities banning visitors for months at a time during the coronavirus pandemic. It moves to the Senate for more debate.
Gov. Brian Kemp implemented a ban on visitors at long-term care facilities in April by executive order. In September, Kemp eased those restrictions by putting in place a phased approach to allowing visitors based on the severity of a COVID-19 outbreak in a particular area.
House lawmakers held multiple hearings when they heard emotional testimony saying people were suffering because of loneliness and avoiding medical care to avoid being cut off from loved ones.
“People have things they need to say,” said Rep. Bonnie Rich, a Suwanee Republican who recounted her own severe illness in the hospital with her husband by her side. “What kind of society denies this? How many people have died in the last year with things they needed to say to loved ones? Is there anything really more important?”
Rep. Ed Setzler, the Acworth Republican sponsoring the bill, said his sister was turned away “again and again and again” in April after his father suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in Gwinnett County.
Under the bill, a patient in a hospital or long-term care center could name a “designated legal representative” that would get at least one hour of contact each day with the patient. Setzler argued that people old and young need someone at their bedside to help them make difficult medical decisions. The bill says a governor’s emergency powers couldn’t annul the right to have a legal representative.
“It gives the patient the right to have their next of kin at their bedside to help them make critical decisions on the delivery of care,” Setzler said.
The patient could also designate an “essential caregiver,” possibly a hired sitter, who would get two hours of access per day, although the governor could bar that during health care emergencies.
Setzler said facilities could set other conditions, including requiring people to wear full protective gear or show a negative COVID-19 test. The legal representative’s rights would normally kick in after 12 hours, but could be postponed for 48 hours by a physician.
Hospitals and long-term care facilities would retain the power to regulate other visitors. Patients could sue if their rights were restricted.
Hospital representatives raised concerns that the measure could heighten the risk of the virus spreading among vulnerable populations. Georgia has recorded more than 1 million cases of the virus, and long term-care facilities have been particularly hard hit.
Opponents of the bill said the state should leave decisions to health care professionals. Rep. Deborah Bazemore of Riverdale said it was a “feel-good, tug-at-your-heartstrings bill,” but called it a “recipe for disaster.”
“HB 290 does not acknowledge infection control as an essential element to keeping Georgians safe,” said Rep. Rebecca Mitchell, a Snellville Democrat.
House Speaker David Ralston, a Blue Mountain Republican, said, “Sometimes you’ve just got to do what’s right.”
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