Public Act No. 21-185 Summary

• Nursing homes and dementia special care units must employ a full-time infection prevention and control specialist responsible for staff training, resident education, committee participation, and outbreak response, with rotating schedule coverage of all shifts at least monthly.

• Nursing homes must maintain a two-month supply of varied-size personal protective equipment, conduct N95 mask fittings at Department of Public Health-determined frequency, and have at least one licensed professional available on-call each shift to start intravenous lines.

• By January 1, 2022, nursing homes must provide emergency operation plans to local governments, establish family councils, and update resident care plans to address social/emotional/mental health needs, visitation protocols, and Long-Term Care Ombudsman information.

• The Department of Public Health must establish minimum staffing requirements of three hours direct care per resident per day and one full-time social worker per 60 residents by January 1, 2022, with recreational staff requirements to be reduced as deemed appropriate.

• Infection prevention and control committees must meet monthly (or daily during outbreaks), conduct outbreak testing at Department of Public Health frequency, and evaluate protocols and specialist performance annually and after every outbreak.