# Title 50 — Public Welfare

## Chapter 50-10.3 — Access to Long-Term Care Facilities

### § 50-10.3-01. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
1. "Declaration of disaster or emergency" means a disaster or emergency declared by
the governor under chapter 37-17.1.
2. "Department" means the department of health and human services.
3. "Essential caregiver" means an individual identified by a resident of a long-term care
facility or by the resident's designated decisionmaker to provide in-person physical,
spiritual, or emotional support to the resident.
4. "Long-term care facility" means a skilled nursing facility, basic care facility, or
swing-bed hospital approved to furnish long-term services.
### § 50-10.3-02. Scope.

This chapter does not supersede federal authority regarding long-term care facilities or
prevent the department from taking necessary actions to render the state eligible for federal
funds or reimbursement services provided in long-term care facilities.
### § 50-10.3-03. Access to long-term care facilities for essential caregivers.

1. The department, working jointly with the state long-term care ombudsman, residents
and tenants, families of residents and tenants, and long-term care facility
representatives, shall establish basic protocols to allow a resident of a long-term care
facility or the resident's designated decisionmaker designate one or more individuals
as the resident's essential caregivers, including during a declaration of disaster or
emergency.
a. If a declaration of disaster or emergency results in restricted access to a
long-term care facility, the department shall review and update the protocols
every thirty days during the period of restriction, including an assessment of the
need for continuation of the restriction.
b. An essential caregiver shall meet the necessary qualifications to enter the long-
term care facility to provide in-person physical, spiritual, or emotional support to a
resident of a long-term care facility in accordance with the protocols established
under this section.
2. The protocols must include:
a. Safety measures for an essential caregiver which may include restrictions on
travel, enhanced testing for communicable diseases, and the necessary safety
equipment required to protect the health and safety of the residents of the long-
term care facility; and
b. Procedures to replace an essential caregiver due to necessary circumstances,
including illness or death of the essential caregiver.
### § 50-10.3-04. Additional safety requirements for residents of long-term care facilities.

A long-term care facility may establish additional safety requirements to protect the
residents. The facility may require an essential caregiver to provide personal protective
equipment for the essential caregiver and undergo any related training or assume the cost of
the personal protective equipment and any related training provided by the facility to allow the
essential caregiver to provide in-person physical, spiritual, or emotional support to a resident of
the long-term care facility.
### § 50-10.3-05. Suspension of access for essential caregivers.

If a long-term care facility suspends access to the long-term care facility for an essential
caregiver who violates the protocols established under section 50-10.3-03, the long-term care
facility shall allow the resident, or the resident's designated decisionmaker, to immediately
designate a replacement essential caregiver.

### § 50-10.3-06. Liability.

A long-term care facility, facility employee, or facility contractor that, in good faith,
implements or complies with this chapter may not be held civilly liable for damages, including
punitive damages, for any act or omission related to the implementation of this chapter. This
section does not apply to any act or omission that constitutes gross negligence or willful or
wanton misconduct.
