Progress being made towards visitation in long-term care

Progress is being made in regard to visitation in long-term care facilities, says North Dakota Long Term Care Association President, Shelly Peterson. Peterson and Reuniting Families and Residents Task Force Chairman Chris Larson appeared on Monday’s What’s On Your Mind Radio Show with Scott Hennen.

“A great deal of progress has been made,” Peterson says. “And it really originated with your show, as the issue rose to the top on how do we reunite families and residents.”

Since that time, a task force, consisting of residents and administrators of long-term care facilities, legislators and state officials has been formed, with the first meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Peterson says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new guidance with regards to visitation in long-term care facilities.

“It opens the door a tiny bit,” she says. “There are still a lot of requirements, which we would want to meet, but they seem to give a lot of leverage to the state.”

She calls the state-by-state approach a ‘godsend.’