As of November 1, 2021, North Carolina law guarantees all residents of this facility the following visitation rights, pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-112.5:

• To receive visitors to the fullest extent permitted under any applicable rules, regulations, or guidelines adopted by either the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or any federal law.
• Should circumstances, such as an outbreak, require the complete closure to visitors, the facility shall use its best efforts to develop alternate visitation protocols that would allow visitation to the greatest extent safely possible.
• Compassionate care visits should be always allowed.  Facility will still require compassionate care visitors to submit to health screenings necessary to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and may restrict a compassionate care visitor who does not pass a health screening requirement or who has tested positive for an infectious disease. Compassionate care visitors must also adhere to infection control procedures, including wearing personal protective equipment. While end-of-life situations have been used as examples of compassionate care situations, the term “compassionate care situations” does not exclusively refer to end-of-life situations. Examples of other types of compassionate care situations include, but are not limited to:

1. A resident, who was living with their family before recently being admitted to a nursing home, is struggling with the change in environment and lack of physical family support.
2. A resident who is grieving after a friend or family member recently passed away.
3. A resident who needs cueing and encouragement with eating or drinking, previously provided by family and/or caregiver(s), is experiencing weight loss or dehydration.
4. A resident, who used to talk and interact with others, is experiencing emotional distress, seldom speaking, or crying more frequently (when the resident had rarely cried in the past).
5. Even before COVID-19, the transition for residents to a long-term care facility was difficult. Compassionate care visits to help facilitate the transition of care are allowable and permissible.  The visit is limited to the one responsible party or the one designee (the one person that the RP designates).

If you feel this facility has denied you these rights, you may contact the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, Nursing Home Licensure and Certification Section at 1-800-624-3004 or 919-855-4500.