Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
Public Act No. 21-185
AN ACT CONCERNING NURSING HOMES AND DEMENTIA
SPECIAL CARE UNITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section
and sections 2 to 11, inclusive, of this act:
(1) "Nursing home" means any chronic and convalescent nursing
home or any rest home with nursing supervision that provides nursing
supervision under a medical director twenty-four hours per day, or any
chronic and convalescent nursing home that provides skilled nursing
care under medical supervision and direction to carry out nonsurgical
treatment and dietary procedures for chronic diseases, convalescent
stages, acute diseases or injuries; and
(2) "Dementia special care unit" means the unit of any assisted living
facility that locks, secures, segregates or provides a special program or
unit for residents with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease,
dementia or other similar disorder, in order to prevent or limit access by
a resident outside the designated or separated area, or that advertises or
markets the facility as providing specialized care or services for persons
suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
(b) Each nursing home and dementia special care unit shall employ a Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
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full-time infection prevention and control specialist who shall be
responsible for the following:
(1) Ongoing training of all administrators and employees of the
nursing home or dementia special care unit on infection prevention and
control using multiple training methods, including, but not limited to,
in-person training and the provision of written materials in English and
Spanish;
(2) The inclusion of information regarding infection prevention and
control in the documentation that the nursing home or dementia special
care unit provides to residents regarding their rights while in the home
or unit and posting of such information in areas visible to residents;
(3) Participation as a member of the infection prevention and control
committee of the nursing home or dementia special care unit and
reporting to such committee at its regular meetings regarding the
training he or she has provided pursuant to subdivision (1) of this
subsection;
(4) The provision of training on infection prevention and control
methods to supplemental or replacement staff of the nursing home or
dementia special care unit in the event an infectious disease outbreak or
other situation reduces the staffing levels of the home or unit; and
(5) Any other duties or responsibilities deemed appropriate for the
infection prevention and control specialist, as determined by the
nursing home or dementia special care unit.
(c) Each nursing home and dementia special care unit shall require its
infection and control specialist to work on a rotating schedule that
ensures the specialist covers each eight-hour shift at least once per
month for purposes of ensuring compliance with relevant infection
control standards. Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
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Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) On or before January 1, 2022,
the administrative head of each nursing home and each dementia
special care unit shall provide its emergency plan of operations to the
political subdivision of this state in which it is located for purposes of
the development of the emergency plan of operations for such political
subdivision of this state required pursuant to the Interstate Mutual Aid
Compact made and entered into under section 28-22a of the general
statutes.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) The administrative head
of each nursing home shall ensure that (1) the home maintains at least a
two-month supply of personal protective equipment for its staff, and (2)
the personal protective equipment is of various sizes based on the needs
of the home's staff. The personal protective equipment shall not be
shared amongst the home's staff and may only be reused in accordance
with the strategies to optimize personal protective equipment supplies
in health care settings published by the National Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The administrative head of each nursing home
shall hold fittings of his or her staff for N95 masks or higher rated masks
certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
at a frequency determined by the Department of Public Health.
(b) On or before January 1, 2022, the Department of Emergency
Management and Homeland Security, in consultation with the
Department of Public Health, shall establish a process to evaluate,
provide feedback on, approve and distribute personal protective
equipment for use by nursing homes in a public health emergency.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) The administrative head of
each nursing home shall ensure that there is at least one staff member
or contracted professional licensed or certified to start an intravenous
line who is available on-call during each shift to start an intravenous
line. Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
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Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) Each nursing home's infection
prevention and control committee shall meet (1) at least monthly, and
(2) during an outbreak of an infectious disease, daily, provided daily
meetings do not cause a disruption to the operations of the nursing
home, in which case the committee shall meet at least weekly. The
prevention and control committee shall be responsible for establishing
infection prevention and control protocols for the nursing home and
monitoring the nursing home's infection prevention and control
specialist. Not less than annually and after every outbreak of an
infectious disease in the nursing home, the prevention and control
committee shall evaluate (A) the implementation and analyze the
outcome of such protocols, and (B) whether the infection prevention and
control specialist is satisfactorily performing his or her responsibilities
under subsection (b) of section 1 of this act.
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) Each nursing home shall,
during an outbreak of an infectious disease, test staff and residents of
the nursing home for the infectious disease at a frequency determined
by the Department of Public Health as appropriate based on the
circumstances surrounding the outbreak and the impact of testing on
controlling the outbreak.
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) On or before January 1, 2022,
the administrative head of each nursing home and dementia special care
unit shall encourage the establishment of a family council and assist in
any such establishment. The family council shall facilitate and support
open communication between the nursing home or dementia special
care unit and each resident's family members and friends. As used in
this section, "family council" means an independent, self-determining
group of the family members and friends of the residents of a nursing
home or dementia special care unit that is geared to meeting the needs
and interests of the residents and their family members and friends.
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) On or before January 1, Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
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2022, the administrative head of each nursing home shall ensure that
each resident's care plan includes the following:
(1) Measures to address the resident's social, emotional and mental
health needs, including, but not limited to, opportunities for social
connection and strategies to minimize isolation;
(2) Visitation protocols and any other information relevant to
visitation that shall be written in plain language and in a form that may
be reasonably understood by the resident and the resident's family
members and friends; and
(3) Information on the role of the Office of the Long-Term Care
Ombudsman established under section 17a-405 of the general statutes
including, but not limited to, the contact information for said office.
(b) On or before January 1, 2022, the administrative head of each
nursing home shall ensure that its staff is educated regarding (1) best
practices for addressing the social, emotional and mental health needs
of residents, and (2) all components of person-centered care.
Sec. 9. (Effective from passage) On or before October 1, 2021, the Public
Health Preparedness Advisory Committee established pursuant to
section 19a-131g of the general statutes shall amend the plan for
emergency responses to a public health emergency prepared pursuant
to said section to include a plan for emergency responses to a public
health emergency in relation to nursing homes and dementia special
care units and providers of community-based services to residents of
such homes and units.
Sec. 10. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) On or before January 1,
2022, the Department of Public Health shall (1) establish minimum
staffing level requirements for nursing homes of three hours of direct
care per resident per day, and (2) modify staffing level requirements for
social work and recreational staff of nursing homes such that the Substitute Senate Bill No. 1030
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requirements (A) for social work are one full-time social worker per
sixty residents, and (B) for recreational staff are lower than the current
requirements, as deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Public
Health.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes that set forth nursing
home staffing level requirements to implement the provisions of this
section.
Sec. 11. (Effective from passage) The Department of Public Health shall
seek any federal or state funds available for improvements to the
infrastructure of nursing homes in the state. Not later than January 1,
2022, the Commissioner of Public Health shall report, in accordance
with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, regarding
the commissioner's success in accessing such federal or state funds
available for infrastructure improvement to the joint standing
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters
relating to public health.