Deal reached on hospital patient right to visitors
May 17—CONCORD — Legislative negotiators reached agreement Monday on a bill that would give hospital patients the express right to designate a loved one who may visit them, an issue that stoked debate during the pandemic as health care providers restricted access for safety reasons.
House Speaker Pro Tem Kimberly Rice, R-Hudson, has led an emotional crusade for legislation that will be called the Patient Support Act.
Rice spoke candidly about her own struggles after dealing with the deaths of her mother and younger brother, as well as an extended hospitalization for her stepfather during the pandemic.
Rice said many of her friends were not able to be with their loved ones or have others visit them, including one who recently passed away from COVID-19.
"I will take this as a win. Congratulations to the families, loved ones, that want and need to be advocates for their loved ones so no one is left alone," Rice said after House and Senate leaders unanimously endorsed compromise language. (HB 1439).
Both legislative bodies will vote on the deal when they next meet on May 26.
The agreement was reached after House members allowed the Senate's plan to prevail on a key matter in dispute — where this visitor mandate would reside in state law.
Rice's original bill put it into the hospital licensing law, but both the Senate and the New Hampshire Hospital Association wanted it to be part of the Patient Bill of Rights.
Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, said the issue was too important to allow a turf issue to spoil consensus.
"We need to let people know that their voice has been heard," Layon said.
Rights not unrestricted
State Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, a physician, said including this idea in the Patient Bill of Rights gives it more clout because all hospitals are judged on those policies when they come up for accreditation.
Another hurdle was cleared when House negotiators agreed to drop their request that the bill include the phrase, "No patient left alone."
Sherman said this could imply some hospitals leave patients without any supervision.
"No frontline health care worker over the past two years has ever left a patient alone," Sherman said.
"To me this could be taken as incredibly inflammatory and offensive."
As amended, the bill would permit hospitals to restrict visitors if their presence would interfere with the patient's care or if visitors engaged in "disruptive, threatening or violent" behavior.
The legislation permits hospitals to compel visitors to wear personal protective equipment such as gowns and masks and allows the hospital to revoke someone's right to visit if they refuse to comply.
House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, said the House agreed to give the hospital lobby time to work on two other issues: policies about where to display this patient right and how to deny a visitor request.
"Remember we are dealing with fears, and they have a way of feeding upon themselves," Pearson said.
NHHA President and CEO Steve Ahnen said hospitals do not operate uniformly on all issues.
"We have to recognize there are times we can't always do everything we would like to ensure the health and safety of our staff, our patients, our visitors and the community," Ahnen said. "Let us work with our members."
Pearson urged NHHA Executive Vice President Paula Minnehan to keep lawmakers informed about their work on these two issues in the coming months.
