Louisiana HR 19: COASTAL RESOURCES: Approves the annual state integrated coastal protection plan for Fiscal Year 2021, as adopted by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board

Bill Text

ENROLLED
2020 First Extraordinary Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 19
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILLARD
A RESOLUTION
To direct the Louisiana Department of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs to
implement certain policies to protect the health and safety of long-term care facility
residents.
WHEREAS, the ongoing global outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel
coronavirus and named "coronavirus disease 2019", abbreviated as "COVID-19", has been
recognized as a pandemic since March 11, 2020; and
WHEREAS, according to data supplied by the Louisiana Department of Health, the
average and median ages of persons who have died of COVID-19 in Louisiana are
seventy-four and seventy-six, respectively; and
WHEREAS, as of the date of filing of this Resolution, Louisiana has registered
nearly two thousand nine hundred officially reported deaths from COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has created additional challenges for people
living with dementia, particularly those in long-term care settings, as well as their families
and caregivers; and
WHEREAS, long-term care facility residents with Alzheimer's and other dementias
are particularly susceptible to COVID-19 due to their typical age, their significantly
increased likelihood of coexisting chronic conditions, and the congregate nature of these
settings; and
WHEREAS, approximately ninety-two thousand people over the age of sixty-five
in Louisiana are currently living with Alzheimer's; and
WHEREAS, nationwide, forty-eight percent of nursing home residents are living
with dementia and forty-two percent of persons residing in residential care homes and other
assisted living facilities have Alzheimer's or another dementia; and
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WHEREAS, nursing homes and assisted living communities are on the front lines
of the COVID-19 crisis; and
WHEREAS, across the country, these facilities, their staff, and their residents are
experiencing a crisis due to a lack of transparency, an inability to access necessary testing,
inaccurate reporting, and other factors; and
WHEREAS, approximately one-third of Louisiana's COVID-19 deaths have occurred
in long-term care facilities; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Health licenses and regulates nursing
facilities pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 40:2009.1 through 2011; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 40:2166.1 et seq., the Louisiana
Department of Health also licenses and regulates adult residential care homes and providers,
which are commonly known as assisted living facilities; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates and maintains nursing
facilities for veterans pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 29:381 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, nursing facilities and adult residential care homes and providers are
referred to collectively as long-term care facilities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby direct the Louisiana Department of Health and the
Department of Veterans Affairs, each referred to hereafter in this Resolution as the
"department", to implement all of the following policies and mandates with respect to the
long-term care facilities licensed and regulated by each department, respectively:
(1) Each department shall provide all nursing homes, adult residential care homes,
and adult residential care providers that it regulates the ability to follow protocols of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or other federal or state protocols, to use
testing to verify that all residents and staff are free of COVID-19 infection, whether or not
they are symptomatic. All such long-term care facilities shall report positive diagnoses of
COVID-19 to the department which regulates it within twenty-four hours, update previously
reported cases at least weekly, and proactively notify family members and any designated
persons of changes.
(2) Each department shall maintain a web platform that contains COVID-19 data
which is searchable by facility for all long-term care facilities that it regulates.
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(3) Each department shall provide CDC-recommended isolation protocols, including
but not limited to cohorting, for long-term care facility residents who test positive for
COVID-19 for the purpose of keeping uninfected persons from sharing rooms with persons
who are infected with the virus.
(4) Each department shall issue a care coordination protocol to guide long-term care
facilities and hospitals, respectively, during the transition between care settings in instances
when a long-term care facility resident must be moved from his residence to an acute care
setting.
(5) Each department shall disseminate essential dementia care standards to aid
provisional staff in the delivery of person-centered dementia care.
(6) Each department shall require that long-term care facilities address social
isolation and ensure that people with dementia are able to communicate with designated
family a