Senate committee advances bill allowing residents or guardians to install cameras in private care apartments

Representative Dory Healy, R.-District 15, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that House Bill 337 would let a resident, a resident's guardian or a health-care agent authorize installation and use of an electronic monitoring device inside a resident's private room in a residential care facility.

The bill, Healy said, responds to constituent concerns about abuse in long-term care settings and would be optional — placed by the resident or an authorized person and paid for by the resident or family. "Who are we protecting? Are we protecting staff or are we protecting our most at-risk adults? That's my concern here," Healy said during closing remarks.

Healy cited national studies and advocacy-group findings in her opening statement, and told the committee that lawmakers in about 10 other states have adopted similar provisions allowing in-room monitoring when families or residents request it.

Industry witnesses opposed the bill in its current form. Elizabeth Sonnichsen, deputy general counsel for Pinnacle Senior Living, said the measure…