The Warren Sun

A bill that would no longer allow COVID-19-positive patients to be transferred to nursing homes or long-term care facilities has passed both the Michigan House and Senate and has made its way to the governor's desk to sign, according to MiSenateGOP.

Senate Bill 956 prohibits those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have not yet recovered from being sent to nursing homes or long-term care facilities, unless those facilities have a specific place for a patient to go that would be safe and provide appropriate care.

“Too many of Michigan’s vulnerable seniors died from COVID-19 because of the state’s policy to bring the virus into nursing home facilities,” Sen. Peter J. Lucido (R-Shelby Township) said, according to MiSenateGOP. “This is important, commonsense legislation that 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, and I hope the governor signs it.”

Sen. Peter Lucido | #MiSenateGOP

The bill also requires prior consent from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) before a COVID-19 patient can be transferred to one of the facilities.

MDHHS is also required to develop a plan and submit it to both the House and the Senate's health policy committees on how it will ensure that there are dedicated facilities that can provide care for the coronavirus patients in each of the state's eight health care regions.

For patients who are ineligible for admission to a hospital, nursing home or adult foster care facility, there will be dedicated facilities for patients who have COVID-19 where they would be able to recover.

MiSenateGOP notes that more than 35% of those who have died from the coronavirus in the state of Michigan are residents of nursing homes. According to the federal government, several of Michigan's nursing home facilities, which act as regional hubs for coronavirus patients, have received low ratings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rating system.