SE Twin Cities

Sen. Karin Housley (R-St. Marys Point) is looking to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for direction on guidelines for long-term care facilities visitors, the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus reported.

Housley, who serves as the chair of the Senate Family Care and Aging Committee, used a handful of nursing home residents as examples of why direction is needed. 

“There is a 99-year-old woman whose daughters used to visit every day before the pandemic. Now, she hasn’t had a visitor in months, and her health has gone so downhill to the point where she can no longer walk,” Housley said in a statement, according to the MNSRC. “There is a woman who has refused medication, food and water so she can begin dying and be allowed to see her family. And there’s a 100-year-old woman who will likely celebrate alone.”

She added that those living in nursing homes are heartbroken that they can’t see their family and friends regularly because of COVID-19, and called on the MDH for help. She wants the entity to roll out a handful of changes including requiring nursing homes to issue written notices of their guidelines for in-person visits by Friday, July 3, permit indoor visitations for residents who cannot do outdoor ones and require visitors to follow sanitation guidelines.