Eastern Wayne Today

Testimony is being heard in support of a bill to protect Michigan nursing home residents from patients who have been infected by COVID-19.

Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Township) is the author of Senate Bill 956, which would prohibit the state from placing an infected individual into a nursing home, unless the facility has been approved with a designated area to care for patients. It would require prior consent of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), according to a press release on MiSenateGOP.

Dr. Rebecca Copf, a family medicine specialist at Oakwood Anesthesia Association in Dearborn, also spoke in support of Lucido’s bill.

Sen. Peter Lucido | #MiSenateGOP

The bill was created in response to the influx of infected nursing home residents who were placed back into the homes while suffering from the coronavirus, or if they had not sufficiently recovered.

Under Lucido’s bill, MDHHS would bear more responsibility, including developing and submitting a plan for eight regional hubs for those infected by COVID-19, who are not eligible for placement in a hospital or other care facility. The department is also required to evaluate existing hubs and provide a report to the House and Senate health committees, MiSenateGOP reported.

There is concern about the facilities, based on federal reports of subpar care. The hubs were previously implemented and operated in the state’s response to the pandemic.

“Thousands of our fellow Michiganders’ loved ones died from COVID-19 because the state decided to bring the virus into nursing home facilities,” Lucido told MiSenateGOP. “It needs to stop, and my bill will make sure it does. This important, commonsense legislation would help ensure the health and safety of the vulnerable people residing at nursing homes, and the staff who care for them, by better mitigating their exposure to the virus at the facilities.”

The bill is awaiting further consideration from the Legislature.