(a)(1) A long-term care facility shall allow compassionate care visitation as needed by the resident to alleviate physical or mental distress.
(2)Personal contact in person with a resident is permitted during a compassionate care visitation if the long-term care facility protocol is followed.
(3)A long-term care facility shall adopt a protocol for personal contact in person that adheres to appropriate infection prevention guidelines disseminated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
(b)A long-term care facility shall work with residents, families, caregivers, resident representatives, and medical providers, and may include the ombudsman program under § 20-10-602 to identify the need for compassionate care visitation, using a
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(a) (1) A long-term care facility shall allow compassionate care visitation as needed by the resident to alleviate physical or mental distress. (2) Personal contact in person with a resident is permitted during a compassionate care visitation if the long-term care facility protocol is followed. (3) A long-term care facility shall adopt a protocol for personal contact in person that adheres to appropriate infection prevention guidelines disseminated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (b) A long-term care facility shall work with residents, families, caregivers, resident representatives, and medical providers, and may include the ombudsman program under § 20-10-602 to identify the need for compassionate care visitation, using a person-centered approach that takes the residents' requests into account. (c) (1) A long-term care facility shall ensure that decisions regarding end-of-life care are made by a resident with capacity or by the representative of a resident without capacity, as provided in the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act, § 20-6-101 et seq. (2) Within the scope of visitation provided by this section, a long-term care facility shall permit a resident making decisions regarding end-of-life care to be accompanied by a family member, guardian, or support person designated by the resident, unless the resident declines or requests to have the discussion outside of the presence of a family member, guardian, or support person. (d) (1) Compassionate care visitation shall continue even if the infection rate in the county in which the long-term care facility is located is high. (2) However, a long-term care facility shall identify one (1) or more ways to allow a compassionate care visitation, including personal contact, that minimize the risk of infection to the resident and other residents in the long-term care facility. (3) (A) In a long-term care facility with no new onset of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in the last fourteen (14) days and in counties with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) positivity rates that are less than ten percent (10%), a long-term care facility shall accommodate and support indoor visitation for reasons beyond compassionate care visitation. (B) A long-term care facility may limit: (i) The number of visitors per resident at one (1) time based on the size of the building and physical space; and (ii) Movement in the long-term care facility, such as requiring the visitor to go directly to the resident's room or designated visitation area. (C) Visits for residents who share a room shall not be conducted in a resident's room, unless the health status of the resident prevents leaving the room. (e) Healthcare workers who are not employees of the long-term care facility but provide direct care to a resident in the long-term care facility, such as hospice workers, emergency medical services personnel, dialysis technicians, laboratory technicians, radiology technicians, and social workers, shall be permitted into the long-term care facility if proper infection control protocols are followed. (f) A long-term care facility that fails to facilitate compassionate care visitation without adequate justification related to clinical necessity or resident safety may be in violation of 42 C.F.R. § 483.10(f)(4) , as it existed on January 1, 2021. (g) To the extent permitted by state and federal law, the appropriate state agency or licensing board shall investigate and may penalize a long-term care facility's failure to comply with this section.