COLUMBIA, S.C. — Governor Henry McMaster recently made an announcement many families have waited on for months.
Nursing home residents will be able to see their loved ones face-to-face – but with strict rules they must follow.
The governor’s task force and DHEC are allowing limited outdoor visitations with social distancing. But first facilities have to meet certain requirements – like no cases of COVID-19 within 14 days, adequate staffing and PPE gear – and they must comply with testing requirements.
All nursing home residents and staff members will have to be tested. Now – there is no date for when facilities will start outdoor visitation and officials say they will need time to prepare.
A facility can also choose not to have in person visitation or to have more strict guidelines.
If someone at the facility tests positive for COVID, visitations will be temporarily suspended.
We reached out to several nursing and assisted living facilities. They tell us they’re reviewing their policies and the governor’s latest guidelines to come up with the best plan for families. Many have been getting creative to keep residents connected.
Pruitt Health in Rock Hill set up a virtual operations center for daily video chats and window visits. The facility’s executive director tells us the priority is keeping residents safe, but it’s been hard watching them missing out on that in-person connection with their loved ones.
“They’re a lot of emotions bottled and it’s hard to explain, but I just know how trying or taxing it would be not to be able to see my parent or a child during this pandemic,” Rick Fallaw with Pruitt Health said.
Pruitt Health does about 240 tests each week on both residents and employees. In the latest round of tests, nobody tested positive.
