Committee approves bill to protect patient visitation rights during future outbreaks

The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee advanced House Bill 1061, a measure intended to ensure that patients in hospitals and long-term care settings have a designated visitor or caregiver available during future infectious-disease outbreaks, subject to compliance with federal guidance.

Representative Julie Mayberry, sponsor of HB1061, told the committee the bill was developed with input from the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health to avoid creating unrealistic expectations about access and to align with federal rules. DHS witness Martina Smith, director for provider services and quality assurance, said surveyors must follow CMS guidance and federal law and cautioned that a state law written to require following state law over federal law could "potentially lose our funding," though she described the risk as hypothetical and said she had not commonly seen funding removed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multiple family members and caregivers described months-long separation from loved ones in nursing homes and veterans' homes and urged passage. Janet Caldwell said she had not hugged her mother in nearly a year and described the emotional and physical decline she had observed: "Isolation is killing our loved ones as we speak." Amy Sorensen and Nicole (Cole) Wibke recounted similar experiences at rehabilitation and veterans' facilities and said a statutory right for a designated caregiver would provide consistent access and advocacy for vulnerable residents.

Committee members asked technical questions about federal funding and agency coordination. Sponsors and DHS said they had worked to craft language compatible with federal rules. The committee voted to pass the bill by voice vote; it now proceeds to the next step in the legislative process.