The South Dakota Department of Health has released it’s new visitation guidance for nursing homes and assisted living facilities per Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Memo QSO-20-39-NH.
Visitation may occur safely based on vaccines showing to help prevent symptomatic COVID-19 and the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention. The reopening plan and the CMS guidance provides direction to the facility administrator and the governing board to allow visitation within the facility.
The updated guidance states that “compassionate care” visits should be allowed at all times, regardless of a resident’s vaccination status, the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate, or an outbreak. Compassionate care visits include visits for a resident whose health has sharply declined or is experiencing a significant change in circumstances.
