COLOMBIA – Governor Henry McMaster on Friday ordered state health officials to issue guidelines for South Carolina nursing homes to allow limited family visits, but despite the long-awaited change there is still no telling when visits can begin. .
The Department of Health and Environmental Control has been preparing these plans since June. But there was no timetable on Friday for when the state’s nearly 190 nursing homes could actually reopen its doors. A spokeswoman said the agency could not say for sure.
McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said the governor expects DHEC to release its guidelines early next week, but it is unclear how quickly nursing homes will be able to implement them.
McMaster and health officials emphasized that visits should be made safely. While DHEC did not detail its expected plans on Friday, spokeswoman Laura Renwick said the guidelines will include rules for facilities to meet certain test requirements and have an adequate supply of protective equipment on hand.
In a letter on Friday to DHEC President Mark Elam, McMaster lifted the restrictions that had been in place since the initial COVID-19 outbreak in March. He called the state’s visitation ban a “painful need” designed to protect residents of nursing homes who are most vulnerable to the deadly virus.
McMaster is now emphasizing that nursing homes must comply with DHEC guidelines before they are allowed to reopen their doors. He also demanded that the application of his guidelines by the state health agency be “comprehensive”.
McMaster asked DHEC to start developing plans to allow visits more than two months ago. He seemed ready to ask for the guidelines to be released in early July, before delaying his decision, as the rate of COVID-19 infections in the state was increasing.
Defenders and families have been calling all summer for the state to safely reopen homes for visitors. They said that families should be allowed to observe the care of their loved ones personally, to keep an eye out for abuse or neglect.
Caleb Connor, an Aiken lawyer, told The Post and Courier that reopening should be done as soon as possible, but said McMaster’s announcement was a step in the right direction.
“I am happy to know that we are at least going to ensure that these people who are vulnerable and often overlooked receive a little attention,” said Connor. “Especially, given what seems to be happening in the absence of a family.”
McMaster acknowledged the concerns on Friday. The lack of visits caused “depression, stress and anxiety” among residents, he wrote, and led to more frustrations for those “concerned with” the well-being of parents, grandparents or other loved ones “.
Renwick, a DHEC spokeswoman, added: “We recognize that social isolation can have serious negative impacts on the health and well-being of residents of long-term care institutions and their loved ones.”
For families, the lack of detailed state health reports on outbreaks in nursing homes has only made things worse. The virus, which attacks the elderly and the frail, has spread to the state’s long-term institutions.
As of Wednesday, more than 4,800 people were infected in 165 nursing homes in South Carolina. The virus killed 704 of them.
But in many cases, families are left in the dark about the safety of their loved ones. Although DHEC in its reports twice a week updates its infection records in nursing homes, the agency in many cases does not indicate whether the outbreaks are current.
DHEC also does not require testing for viruses in nursing homes, and the agency in its report says nothing about how many tests the homes are actually doing.
In the new DHEC visitation plans, it is unclear how strict the agency’s test mandate can be.
In any case, for Tracey Kaplan, a resident of Summerville, the prospect of seeing her loved ones again was good news.
Her parents lived in Wellmore, on Daniel Island, for the past two years, her father took care of nursing and her mother took care of memory.
The visitation ban sometimes left Kaplan in tears. Although she worries about the increased risk of spreading when the visitation reopens, she can’t wait to sit on her mother’s bed again, hug her, comb her hair and talk about Elvis, as she used to.
One of the last times she saw her mother, more than two months ago, she peered into the distance through a fence. But his mother, Jody Chesley, 73, did not fully understand why the visitation had changed. Then she got up, walked over to the fence and wanted to kiss Kaplan through it.
Kaplan lost when his father, Earl Chesley, turned 77 in May. She also couldn’t hug him on Father’s Day.
She was frustrated that the facility’s staff, while obviously essential, can come and go wherever they want in their personal lives and then get in touch with residents, while even the families of the most careful residents cannot.
She desperately hopes to be able to visit her parents soon.
“Can I go today?” she asked. “I know it’s not realistic, but I hope it won’t be months before they find out.”
Jennifer Berry Hawes contributed to this report.
Follow Joseph Cranney on Twitter @joey_cranney.