COLUMBUS — The “Never Alone Act,” sponsored by Ashland County State Rep. Melanie Miller and one of Knox County’s representatives, Beth Lear, passed the Ohio House of Representatives Dec. 11.
That was the last step in the legislative process for the bill, which now awaits a signature from Gov. Mike DeWine before it becomes law.
The legislation earned a unanimous 89-0 vote in the state’s House of Representatives.
(Below is a PDF of the version of the “Never Alone Act” that passed the State House.)
The act came in response to COVID, Miller and Lear previously told Source Media reporters. During the pandemic, many nursing homes and hospitals had policies in place requiring isolation and social distancing.
A result of those policies, Miller told Ashland Source, was that many people had family members who died alone.
read our previous reporting
The “Never Alone Act” aimed to create a law ensuring that wouldn’t happen again by allowing patients to have an advocate in a hospital, nursing home or other congregate care setting.
A press release from Miller’s office outlines what the bill will do:
- Requires a congregate care setting to inform a patient or resident that the patient or resident may designate an individual to serve as an advocate and to provide the patient or resident the opportunity to make a designation.
- Prohibits a congregate care setting from 1: denying a patient or resident access to an advocate and 2: prohibiting an advocate from being physically present with a patient or resident.
- Prohibits a political subdivision, public official, or state agency from issuing an order or rule, or enforcing on behalf of the federal government a federal order or rule, that would require a care setting to violate the bill’s provisions.
- Requires the Department of Health to create a Never Alone information sheet and each congregate care setting to provide each patient or resident with a copy at the time of admission.
Reactions to the bill’s passage
The press release from Miller’s office stated Miller was “grateful” for the support of her colleagues on the act.
“We are one signature away from ensuring that we are able to protect the rights of patients to have access to a loved one or advocate to act on behalf of their best interest while in a hospital or care facility,” Miller said.
The bill received support from the Ashland County Council on Aging, Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom and the Ohio Christian Alliance as it moved through the legislative process.
The Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice and Ohio Alliance of Recovery Parties also testified on the bill as interested parties.
Ohio is not the only state that has passed legislation to combat isolation in healthcare settings. According to the Never Alone Project, 12 other states have passed or are considering bills addressing that challenge.
The project lists Missouri’s law as “one of the best in the nation.” It requires visitation can happen as needed by the patient. It received bipartisan support in its final votes in the state Senate.
But St. Louis Public Radio found that the bill’s sponsors hadn’t heard from constituents or healthcare facilities a year after it passed. It noted that results might not be seen until hospitals face another public health crisis.
