Local Lawmakers Seeking Ways to Reunite Families Inside Nursing Homes

ODESSA, TX — Since the pandemic began nursing home patients and their family members have been separated and unable to visit face to face. In an effort to reunite families safely, local lawmakers sent a formal letter to Health and Human Services asking them to find a way for family members to check on their patients.

According to CBS7, State Representative Brooks Landgraf (R) and several other members drafted a letter to the acting Commissioner for Health and Human Services.

“In so many cases, I just can’t understand the quarantine or why they can’t have visitors, why they can’t have family members come to visit them. In so many cases that is having a tremendously negative impact on their health,” said Landgraf.

Representative Landgraf has the first-hand experience with this issue.

“I have a grandmother who is in a memory care unit at a nursing home in Dallas, and she suffers from the same situation that I’ve heard from so many West Texans that have family members who are in a home or assisted living facility. We hear the same heart-breaking stories over and over,” said Landgraf.

Mary McCourt who serves as an Alzheimer’s Ambassador for Congressman Mike Conaway also shared her concerns.

“You can’t physically look at a loved one and make sure that they don’t have bedsores, that they’re being turned properly, that they’re eating the way that they should be eating. Because a lot of people with Alzheimer’s forget to eat. That causes depression which causes weight loss,” said McCourt.

The exact details of the letter have not been revealed, but according to sources, lawmakers made several suggestions like having a place to visit that can be cleaned properly after each visit, temperature scans, and possibly ensuring family members who visit patients have a negative COVID-19 test.