Letter to the editor: Families have right to visit nursing home residents

I am writing to all families who have loved ones residing in nursing facilities in Pennsylvania. If your loved one is terminally ill or emotionally struggling, you have the right to in-person visits.

On Sept. 17, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released memorandum QSO-20-39-NH to provide new guidance on visitation in nursing homes during the pandemic. In this guidance, CMS permits visitation by a resident’s loved ones in “end of life situations” and when “compassionate care” visits are deemed important to the psychological health of the resident.

“End of life” is defined by CMS as a resident who is terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less. It is not limited to situations where death is imminent or the resident is “actively dying.” “Compassionate care” visits can occur regardless of a resident’s life expectancy. Unfortunately, many facilities continue to restrict all visitation until the last hours or days of a resident’s life.

My family had to fight to gain the right to visit my father, who is under hospice care for end-stage cancer and a resident of a nursing facility in Western Pennsylvania. It is unclear whether other hospice families in this facility have been notified of their right to visit their loved ones.

Families should know that their dying or struggling loved ones do not have to take this journey alone.

Susan Kline

Delmont