Plans focus on nursing homes, flexibility for schools

A pair of proposals helping Michigan respond to COVID-19 effectively while keeping people safe were advanced Wednesday thanks to votes by state Rep. Jack O’Malley.

Senate Bill 956 addresses Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s mandate which puts COVID-19 patients into long-term care facilities alongside healthy residents.

“From the beginning, this was an irresponsible and dangerous decision made by our governor and it put the lives of our seniors in these facilities in jeopardy,” said O’Malley, of Lake Ann. “The data and what we knew about the virus showed that to be true. The Legislature has formulated a plan to say enough is enough. Nearly 2,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19 and we can’t afford more due to bad policy.”

The legislation requires the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, to complete an evaluation and report of current policies regarding COVID-19 patients and nursing homes by Aug. 15.

The legislation also tasks DHHS with developing a new plan by Sept. 1 which creates at least one dedicated regional facility within each of the state’s eight health regions for use as COVID-19 patient centers. The placement of individuals with COVID-19 in any long-term care facility when the facility doesn’t have a separate, dedicated building for patients to be properly quarantined and cared for would be prohibited.

The safety of Michigan students as learning resumes in the fall is also a critical component to COVID-19 response, and O’Malley voted in favor of a House-Senate plan that gives local school districts and communities control to make decisions.

The proposal will allow local districts and health departments to work together to develop health and safety standards that are best for their respective areas – taking into account case totals, available hospital space and other key criteria.

“Every corner of our state has been impacted differently by COVID-19, so it doesn’t make sense to be centralized when it comes to telling schools across the state what they should and shouldn’t be doing as it pertains to their kids,” said O’Malley, who serves on the House Education Committee. “There’s an old adage that emergencies are local up, and we need to hold true to that as we address how to operate within this emergency.”

The Return to Learn plan offers options for continued distance learning or safety protocols for in-classroom activity. It also alters attendance definition, utilizes benchmark assessments to ensure kids do not fall behind in their learning and lays out safety requirements for extracurricular activities such as high school sports.