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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1013 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 640
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Rita A. Mendes
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to improve infection control in Massachusetts home care.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Rita A. Mendes11th Plymouth1/12/2023Steven Ultrino33rd Middlesex1/26/2023David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester1/26/2023Christopher J. Worrell5th Suffolk1/26/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/30/2023James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex1/30/2023Gerard J. Cassidy9th Plymouth1/31/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth1/31/2023Tackey Chan2nd Norfolk2/1/2023Patricia A. Duffy5th Hampden2/2/2023Jon Santiago9th Suffolk2/6/2023Frank A. Moran17th Essex2/8/2023Kay Khan11th Middlesex2/8/2023Russell E. Holmes6th Suffolk2/8/2023Priscila S. Sousa6th Middlesex2/14/2023Peter Capano11th Essex2/17/2023Michael D. BradySecond Plymouth and Norfolk2/18/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/19/2023 2 of 2
Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/1/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire3/4/2023 1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1013 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 640
By Representative Mendes of Brockton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 640) of Rita
A. Mendes and others that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services be directed to
establish a mandatory infection control training program for personal home care attendants.
Elder Affairs.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act to improve infection control in Massachusetts home care.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the
2executive office of health and human services, in consultation with appropriate state agencies
3and relevant public stakeholders, shall develop and implement a mandatory infection control
4training program for all new and incumbent personal care attendants, as defined in section 70 of
5said chapter 118E, and all individual employees of home care agencies who provide home care
6services to a consumer in the consumer’s residence.
7 For purposes of this act, a home care agency shall be an entity or organization, however
8organized and whether conducted for profit or not for profit, that is owned, operated, maintained
9or advertised for the purpose of providing home care services in residential settings for
10compensation, provided, however, that home care agency shall not include an entity operated by
11either the federal government or the commonwealth providing home care services; an entity that
12limits its business exclusively to the provision of house cleaning services; an aging service 2 of 2
13access points or ASAP entity as defined in section 4B of chapter 19A; a hospice program
14licensed under section 57D of chapter 111; or an adult foster care program regulated under 130
15CMR 408.
16 (b) The executive office shall establish contracts with labor-management training funds,
17community colleges, and other entities capable of conducting the training program and shall
18ensure the training program is implemented in a manner that is coordinated with the work of
19other state agencies and public and private entities involved in health care workforce training,
20recruitment, and retention.
21 SECTION 2. The executive office of health and human services shall establish the
22mandatory infection control and public health training program as outlined above no later than
23180 days from passage of this Act.