Gail Matillo
“A lot of family members will be happy once visitation is open,” says Gail Matillo, president and CEO of the Florida Senior Living Association and a member of Florida’s Task Force on the Safe and Limited Reopening of Long Term Care Facilities.

Recommendations from a state task force on reopening Florida’s long-term care facilities, including assisted living communities, to visitation could be on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk by next week.

The Task Force on the Safe and Limited Reopening of Long Term Care Facilities met for a third time Wednesday to work out details of a plan to allow visitors back into senior living communities and nursing homes. Potential recommendations currently call for allowing both indoor and outdoor visits as long as a facility has had no new COVID-19 cases for at least 14 days. Also, an “essential caregiver” — for instance, a family member — could be designated to help care for a resident, regardless of COVID-19 activity at a facility.

“We know that families and residents are anxious and looking forward to the day when they can wrap their arms around their loved ones. We also know our residents want their care centers to return to the place they know as their home, when they can share a meal with a friend, have their hair cut and styled, enjoy an activity or game with others — all things that contribute to their quality of life,” Emmett Reed, executive director of the Florida Health Care Association, told McKnight’s Senior Living. “The discussions we’ve had with the task force have been informative and productive, and we believe we can develop a solution that allows for a safe and gradual reopening to visitors while still maintaining the focus on keeping residents and staff safe from the virus.”

Gail Matillo, president and CEO of the Florida Senior Living Association, is representing assisted living communities on the task force. She told McKnight’s Senior Living that she likes what she’s seen so far and that the process is moving quickly.

“A lot of family members will be happy once visitation is open,” Matillo said. “The last couple of weeks, we’ve heard from a lot of family members really desperate to see their loved ones. We don’t blame them at all. We’ve also heard from residents afraid of visitation because they’ve done such a good job of making sure COVID-19 hasn’t been in their communities.”

Matillo said it will be an education process for both families and residents on what is happening once the governor proceeds with implementing any recommendations. 

Jason Hand, FSLA vice president of public policy and legal affairs, noted that the essential or compassionate caregiver component was, to a degree, included in the governor’s visitation bans back in March, but it wasn’t fully implemented at many sites. Hand called it a “possible tool in the toolbox” to help families see their loved ones.

FSLA sent a state-of-the-industry letter to the secretary of the Florida Department of Health  a few weeks ago identifying possible solutions for visitation, including indoor and outdoor visits. With more than 3,000 assisted living communities in Florida, ranging from six-bed small providers to larger communities, Hand said, “Every community is going to be different, and you roll it out as best you can.”

“If you just open the floodgates without proper protocols and procedures, it’s a potential recipe for disaster,” he said. “We need communities to look at their buildings, look at their staff, look at their residents and resources.”

Each community must determine whether it has the space for indoor and outdoor visitation, determine what it can do and how it can safely and securely roll out visitation in a meaningful way, he said, adding that he decisions and rollout will vary from community to community. 

“We’re trying to thread that needle with all of this,” Hand said. “It really comes down to, each facility really needs to look at their own capabilities [and] take what the state is saying as a base. At the end of the day, what is safe and meaningful?”

The recommendations will include accompanying protocols on screening, personal protective equipment, appointments, staffing and documentation needs. 

Reed said FHCA’s recommendations build on the work of FHCA’s Sustainable COVID-19 Workgroup.

“Visitation must be done safely to ensure our care centers can minimize and control exposure to the virus,” he told McKnight’s Senior Living. “Policies should factor in facilities having a strong COVID-19 containment and infection control strategy, along with trained staff to help manage the process, adequate stockpiles of cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment for staff, residents and visitors, ongoing testing and supplies to build safe visitation areas.”

Florida virus protocol updates

Hand and Matillo also shared updates from the Florida Department of Health, including a desire to reopen beauty shops within senior living communities and a change in protocol on staff members returning to work and residents returning from hospital stays. 

Hand said the state shared in a webinar that experts are now shifting to a symptom-based approach and a timeframe of 10 days since the development of symptoms or a positive test in determining whether COVID-19-positive employees can return to work and a resident to their home.

“This will be helpful in getting residents and staff back quicker,” he said, adding that as more is learned about the virus, protocols may change. “We can take it and see how to best apply to ensure the safety of residents and staff.”

Matillo said that during the task force meeting, the Department of Health indicated that a plan to reopen beauty shops within senior living communities is a near-term goal. 

“That is huge within itself, Matillo said, adding that a resident told her, “I don’t look good, so I don’t feel good.”