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Calls intensify for DPH to permit indoor nursing‑home visits as city moves to red tier
Summary
Multiple public commenters at the commission urged immediate indoor visitation for nursing‑home and assisted‑living residents, citing high resident vaccination rates and harms from prolonged isolation; commissioners asked DPH for updates on Laguna Honda policies.
Several callers used the public‑comment period to press the Department of Public Health to allow indoor visitation in skilled‑nursing and assisted‑living facilities now that the city is in the red tier and resident vaccination rates are high.
"They've been locked down for the entire year," said Adi Reum, a community activist with the "No Neighborhood Council" group, urging the commission to develop protocols that balance safety and family visitation. Dr. Teresa Palmer, a geriatrician and daughter of a nursing‑home resident, said infection rates in San Francisco nursing homes were now zero and called the continued restrictions "unacceptable," arguing families should be allowed to visit with PPE and testing.
Callers repeatedly asked why indoor visitation decisions lagged reopening of restaurants and other venues. Patrick Monette Shaw and other callers urged DPH and city officials to issue guidance immediately, citing state and federal rules that allow in‑person visitation when conditions and protections are met.
In response, Director Colfax said that outside visits at Laguna Honda will resume the next day and that staff, the acting health officer and the city attorney were prioritizing work to align Laguna Honda's policies with state guidance. Commissioners asked for a report back at the next meeting on plans to modify visitation consistent with state rules and to consider residents’ mental‑health harms from isolation.
The commission did not change policy on the spot; rather, public pressure and commissioners’ questions prompted DPH to prioritize guidance and report back to the commission.
