South Carolina Nursing Homes to Begin Reporting Visitation Status to DHEC

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued a public health order requiring all nursing homes and community residential care facilities licensed by DHEC to submit a weekly report detailing each facility’s current visitation status.

This public health order was issued as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the health of long-term care facility residents and the workers who care for them while also providing for safe and careful visits with family, friends, and loved ones. Under the public health order, DHEC-licensed nursing homes and community residential care facilities must provide, among other information:

• whether the facility is allowing visitation, and if not, provide the reason(s) for not allowing visitation
• the number of residents that participated in a visit in the previous seven days

All licensed nursing homes and community residential care facilities were notified of the public health order today and were provided with DHEC contact information for assistance with any questions or concerns about this new reporting requirement.

This report will be publicly available at scdhec.gov/visitation on Tuesdays beginning Oct. 13.