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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2016 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2363 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | John C. Velis |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to improve health and safety standards at state-operated veterans' homes. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John C. VelisHampden and Hampshire 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2016 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2363 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Velis, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2363) of John C. Velis for legislation |
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| 19 | 19 | | to improve health and safety standards at state-operated veterans' homes. Veterans and Federal |
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| 20 | 20 | | Affairs. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to improve health and safety standards at state-operated veterans' homes. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 14A of Chapter 115A of the General Laws, as appearing in the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 22022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Each state-operated veterans’ home shall employ a full-time infection control specialist |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4and a full-time emergency preparedness specialist, both of whom shall report to the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5superintendent and shall ensure their respective state-operated veterans’ home maintains |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6standards and protocols for infection control and emergency preparedness consistent with |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7applicable state and federal rules and regulations. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 SECTION 2. Said chapter 111 is hereby amended by inserting after section 73B the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9following section: |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (a) The department of public health shall conduct inspections of all state-operated |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11veterans’ homes as the department deems necessary but not less than twice annually; provided, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12however, that during emergency operations, as declared by the secretary of veterans’ services or 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13the governor, the department shall conduct inspections of all state-operated veterans’ homes not |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14less than once every 30 days. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 (b) After an inspection, the department shall notify the superintendent of the state- |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16operated veterans’ home and the secretary of veterans’ services in writing of every violation of |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17applicable rules and regulations and specify a reasonable period of time, not exceeding 30 days |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18after receipt of the notice, for the superintendent to provide a plan to remediate any such |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19violation. After the specified period of time has passed, the department shall conduct a follow-up |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20inspection of the home to ensure compliance. If the superintendent of the state-operated veterans’ |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21home has failed to remedy the violation at the time of the follow-up inspection, the |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22superintendent shall report weekly to the department detailing steps taken towards, and the |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23expected date of, remediation. Not less than 30 days after the superintendent notifies the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24department that a violation has been remedied, the department shall conduct an inspection of the |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25state-operated veterans’ home to verify that the violation has been remedied. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26 (c) Not later than 30 days after each inspection, the department shall report its findings to |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27the Massachusetts Veterans’ Home Advisory Council, the regional council of the inspected |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28home, the executive director of veterans’ homes and housing, the secretary of veterans’ services, |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29the joint committee on veterans and federal affairs and the joint committee on public health. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30Inspection reports and corrections of violations shall be made available to the public on the |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31department’s website. |
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