A bill that would allow families of residents in long-term care to place cameras in their rooms is once again moving through the Arizona Legislature.
A similar bill died last year. David Voepel is the CEO of the Arizona Healthcare Association, which represents the state’s nursing homes. His organization is opposed to the bill.
"Because it doesn't have any resident safety factors involved, it doesn't have any waivers. It just says that health care institutions, nursing homes and assisted living communities cannot stop people from putting cameras in place," Voepel said.
In addition, Voepel says some facilities already do allow cameras. "So it's not against the law or any regulation or anything like that to have cameras in buildings. Some buildings allow it; some buildings have policies and procedures for it. Some buildings have policies and procedures against it," he said.
The bill was passed in the House Health and Human Services Committee by an 11-1 vote on Monday.
"We're talking to the sponsor and we're interested to know what their game plan is on this, whether they're willing to amend it in such a way to give resident protections," Voepel said.
AARP Arizona, which supports the bill, called it a “sweeping win.” It released the following statement;
“AARP AZ applauds the passage of HB 2785 (11-1 vote) in the House Health and Human Services Committee for Electronic monitoring in health care facilities. We thank Representative Nguyen for his leadership and commitment, to Chairwoman Bliss for hearing the bill in her committee, and to the members on the committee who gave the bill their votes. Our sweeping win in committee is the first step to providing residents of care facilities the right to conduct electronic monitoring in their rooms, said Dana Marie Kennedy, AARP Arizona State Director."
