Bipartisan Workgroup of Legislators Introduce Bills to Ensure Safety in Nursing Homes

LANSING - After months of work, a bipartisan group of legislators announced the introduction of 10 bills designed to prevent future health care crises in nursing homes, long term care, adult foster, and child care facilities. In conjunction with Governor Whitmer's nursing home task force, the members of the House Bipartisan Nursing Home Workgroup developed legislation to increase transparency and outline plans for care facilities for future public health crises.

State Representative Leslie Love (D-Detroit) introduced House Bills 6137 and 6138 which would require dedicated care and recovery facilities for long term care residents who test positive for COVID-19 to prevent infection spread among other residents and require the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to record and report vital data regarding COVID-19 in long term care facilities."This is the singular most important legislation for me right now," Love said, "it is close to my heart. I believe if we take care of our children and our elders, we thrive as a society."

To ensure family connections, State Rep. Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton) offered House Bill 6140 which requires the state to provide a minimum of 2 portable electronic devices to long term care facilities for the purpose of facilitating communication between residents and their families.

State Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson (D-Detroit) and State Rep. Padma Kuppa(D-Troy) introduced House Bills 6145 and 6146 which requires notification of nursing home residents and their families, and employees of the facility when a resident or an employee test positive for COVID-19."I am proud to be part of a package that will address Michigan's high rate of nursing homes deaths during the COVID 19 pandemic. It is especially important that we work together in a bipartisan manner to protect our most vulnerable citizens and workers as we continue to fight this global pandemic," said Kuppa.

As the SARS-COV-2 public health crisis has exposed a lack of data available to the public regarding the health and safety of long-term care facilities, State Rep. Lori Stone (D-Warren) sponsored House Bill 6139, which requires the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to establish and maintain a publicly available database documenting licensing status, violations, complaints, and disciplinary actions for nursing homes. According to Rep. Stone, "we've needed increased transparency for nursing home complaints and reports for a while now. Not only for the health and safety of current residents but so that families can make the best choice for them when deciding on a long-term care facility. Creating and maintaining this database is a crucial first step to ensuring all of our seniors are safe."

State Rep. Kevin Coleman D-Westland), State Rep. Kyra Harris Bolden(D-Southfield), and State Rep. Cynthia Neeley(D-Flint), introduced bills to require care facilities to publicly post licensing information as well as how to file a complaint to the appropriate licensing agency. House Bill 6142 introduced by State Rep. Coleman, would require posting this information along with ways to contact the long-term care ombudsman in homes for the aged. "Residents of homes for the aged and their families deserve to know if their facility is complying with Michigan's regulations and have ready access to ways to seek help if they are being mistreated or witness dangerous procedures," said Rep. Coleman. State Rep. Bolden offered House Bill 6144 which requires this information and contacts for the long-term care ombudsman in adult foster care facilities. "This is a step in the right direction for Michigan to fix the issues associated with COVID-19 and nursing homes. The core issues needed straightforward, clear, and effective legislation and I believe this bill is a reasonable and responsible solution, not a short-term band aid" said Rep. Bolden.

House Bill 6143, introduced by State Rep. Cynthia Neeley, would require childcare facilities to publicly post information on how to file a complaint to the Michigan Bureau of Child and Adult Licensing."Just like our parents and grandparents, our children depend on us to ensure the places they are cared for outside of the home are safe," said Neeley. "As a mom, being certain that my children are being cared for by licensed professionals is very important to me and that information should be easily accessible."

In recognition of the difficult and potentially dangerous job done by care facility employees, State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky(D-Livonia) introduced House Bill 6141 to increase the hourly wage rate for those employees to $15.66. "If we want to ensure our loved ones receive the care they need and deserve in skilled nursing facilities, we need to compensate those workers in a commensurate way so we can attract and retain the people who are dedicated to providing that level of care and treat them like the heroes they are," said Rep. Pohutsky.

Michigan's response to this crisis un-precedented health crisis exposed serious deficiencies in the state's plan for nursing homes and the inability of the public to obtain vital data about the operations of long-term care, adult foster care, and childcare facilities. These bills not only remedy this lack of foresight by addressing the problems exposed by COVID-19 but also provide a framework to prevent future breakdowns in nursing home operations. "I am proud of the members of this workgroup to work across the aisle to identify and take the first steps to resolve the lack of transparency and plans for public health crises. While more steps will be needed as we continue to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on our long-term care facilities, these 10 bills provide immediate reforms to protect some of the most vulnerable members of society," said Love.