AB 257

Under current law, an inpatient health care facility must allow an adult patient

to receive visitors during the facility's regular visiting hours, unless the patient

expresses in writing that he or she no longer wishes to receive a particular visitor,

or the facility determines that the patient cannot receive visitors or that the presence

of the visitor would endanger the health or safety of the patient or interfere with the

primary operations of the inpatient health care facility. This bill expands health care

facilities' obligations to allow patients and residents to receive visitors, subject to

COVID-19 infection protocols.

Under the bill, a health care facility must permit a patient with a disability to

designate up to three support persons, defined as a family member, guardian,

personal care assistant, or other paid or unpaid attendant designated by a patient

to advocate or provide support for the patient. The health care facility must allow

at least one support person to be physically present with the patient during the

patient's stay, if necessary to facilitate the care of the patient. The bill prohibits a

health care provider from requiring a patient to execute a declaration to physicians,

consent to a do-not-resuscitate order, or execute a physician order for

life-sustaining treatment as a condition of having a support person present.

The bill requires certain long-term care facilities to grant residents

compassionate care visitation, defined as in-person visitation between a resident

and any individual the resident requests as needed to alleviate the resident's

physical or mental distress. Under the bill, if the COVID-19 infection rate is 20

percent or higher in the county in which a long-term care facility is located, the

long-term care facility must continue to offer compassionate care visitation in a way

that minimizes infection risk. If a long-term care facility has had no new onset of

COVID-19 in the past 14 days and it is located in a county with a COVID-19

infection rate under 10 percent, the facility must permit indoor visitation in addition

to compassionate care visitation.

The bill requires a hospital or primary care facility to allow a child patient to

have daily, in-person visitation at reasonable times with a parent, individual

standing in the place of a parent, or legal guardian. In addition, the bill requires a

hospital or primary care facility to allow an adult patient to have daily, in-person

visitation at reasonable times with a spouse, support person, or legal guardian.

Under the bill, a hospital or primary care facility may restrict this visitation 1) at the

request of the patient, law enforcement, or a court order; 2) if restricted access is

necessary to prevent disruption to the care of the patient; 3) if the individual has

signs and symptoms of a communicable infection, except that access must still be

permitted through means that ensure patient safety; or 4) if the individual is

determined to be dangerous or contrary to the welfare of the patient.

The bill requires a hospice to allow a patient to have in-person visitation at

reasonable times with individuals designated by the patient or a guardian, spouse,