Carbondale Reporter

State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) is asking Gov. J.B.  Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health to clear up “a confusing patchwork of rules and guidance” pertaining to long-term health care facilities and COVID-19.

“As devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, I believe the guidance issued to long-term care facilities by IDPH and the administration is causing another kind of pandemic,” the legislator wrote in a letter to Pritzker. “Throughout the crisis, I have heard from hundreds of my constituents expressing deep concern for the state of mental health of their loved ones living in long-term care facilities across the state.”

Senior citizens have been isolated in their rooms for weeks, not allowed to eat in common dining rooms, exercise or go outside, Bryant wrote.

“The stories that I hear are heartbreaking, and I believe we can work together to find safe, effective ways to end the isolation of our seniors in long-term care,” Bryant wrote. “The lack of clear guidance on these issues so far has resulted in a confusing patchwork of policy implementations in long-term care facilities across the state.”

Bryant proposes IDPH clarify whether seniors can go outside at least an hour a day if weather allows. Some facilities are allowing this while other’s aren’t, the legislator said.

Also, the IDPH should clarify whether long-term care facilities are allow to have their own policies on whether seniors can have visitors. Seniors in some facilities are only allowed to talk to visitors through glass windows, she said.

“This is a major quality of life issue not only for seniors in long-term care, but for sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, and nieces and nephews of long-term care residents,” Bryant said. “In-person visits benefit the mental health of both the resident and the visitor and improve residents’ overall quality of life.”