LEGISLATION

Two SENIOR care bills fail in the Georgia Senate

By Kathy Dean

The end of the Georgia Assembly’s session in March saw the demise of two pieces of legislation that would have affected residents in nursing homes and long-term care facilities — House Bills 290 and 605.

The initial purpose of HB 290 was to ensure that relatives of hospital patients and nursing/ care home residents were able to visit their loved ones, even during health emergencies like the current pandemic.

HB 605, nicknamed the ‘Grammy-cam Bill,’ was designed to set up a process for longterm care facility residents or their family members to install cameras and monitor their rooms after informing the facility.

While both bills managed to get support from the Georgia House of Representatives, neither stories, such as being unable to say final goodbyes in person with their dying parents. Hospital and long-term healthcare professionals, on the other hand, expressed concern that an influx of visitors would weaken safety protocols and violate federal rules about allowing visitors during emergencies.

Hospital groups spoke against the bill, claiming that allowing such visits would endanger the health of patients, residents and staff during outbreaks of infectious disease.

As a compromise, a Senate committee changed the bill to allow only “legal representatives or caregivers” at least one hour of access to patients/residents in care for more than 12 hours. The facilities also would have the right to set “reasonable safety requirements” for the visits, and they could stop or deny access to

was passed by the Georgia Senate and they languished until their time ran out. According to an April 1 article in Capitol Beat, there is a chance that both bills could be revived in 2022.

Visiting rights

HB-290 was prompted by the COVID-19 crisis. Family members of care home residents lobbied lawmakers to allow them to visit their relatives. Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth) is the bill’s lead sponsor.

Originally, HB-290 would have blocked hospitals or longterm care facilities from denying visitations between family members and patients/residents who were in care for more than 24 hours.

Supporters argued that families should have the right to be in close contact with elderly and ill family members — even during a pandemic. They shared tragic anyone who didn’t comply with the safety protocols.

Later, it was further amended to require only that hospitals and nursing homes follow federal rules for allowing outside visitors. Still, HB-290 didn’t get beyond the Senate floor.

On March 24,. Setzler posted a response to the Senate committee’s changes on his Facebook page: “Hospital lobbyists completely GUTTED the right of patients to see their family members in the hospital! … We are, however, undaunted and will fight until we win for the rights of all Georgians who spent 2020 watching their Mom or Dad die in the hospital with no chance to see them face-to-face.’’

Grammy-Cam

The Grammy-cam Bill, HB-605, was the result of a 2014 nursing home death.

Continued on page 8

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James Dempsey, an 89-year-old World War II vet, was recovering from hip surgery at a Georgia nursing home in 2014.

According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, Dempsey told his son, Tim, that “strange things” were happening at the facility. Tim Dempsey hid a camera in his father’s room; it recorded the nursing staff failing to respond to Dempsey (according to prosecutors) as he begged for help and yelled that he couldn’t breathe. After a short time, Jack Dempsey became unresponsive and died.

The three women who were his nursing home caregivers at the time were brought up on criminal charges. One of the women claimed the camera footage should not be admissible because she had not consented to being recorded.

Dempsey’s family argued that since the nursing home was Jack Dempsey’s residence, they had the right to record what took place there, especially since there were concerns for his safety.

The court agreed with the family. In December, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the hidden camera footage was recorded legally and is admissible as evidence.

HB-605 was intended to create a way for a resident or their family to install a camera and live stream or record — after disclosing their intention to the nursing home or long-term care facility.

Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), lead sponsor of HB-605, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the critical need for cameras and communication devices to be the rule, rather than the exception, in the rooms of our loved ones who live in senior living facilities.

“As a nurse, a staunch advocate for seniors and the author of last year’s strict update on the operating rules of such facilities, I believe families should be able to observe the care and well-being of their senior loved ones just as others watch their children in various care settings,” she continued, explaining that open cameras and signage outside a room alerts everyone entering the room — including family members, attorneys and caregiver — that their conversations and their actions will be recorded.

“Open cameras prevent neglect and may save lives,” Cooper said. “At its core, for me, HB 605 is about patient protection — protecting the privacy, the mental wellbeing and the physical safety of our seniors.”

Critics contend that the bill would endanger nursing home residents because it allows facilities to remove hidden cameras they haven’t approved – and has no criminal penalties if workers tamper with cameras that have been approved, although they would be subject to fines under current rules that govern nursing homes.

Also, the bill would mean that footage from unapproved hidden cameras would not be admissible as evidence in civil lawsuits. The long-term care industry supported the bill.

On March 5, the Granny-cam Bill passed through the Georgia House of Representatives and went on to the Senate.

At the Georgia Senate committee Hearing, Tim Dempsey spoke against HB-605, as reported in a March 24 Georgia Health News article by Andy Miller. Dempsey claimed that if the bill was passed, it would hurt residents and families since the footage couldn’t be used in court cases. “The video is a nonpartial witness,” he said.

There was an attempt to pass an amended version of the bill that would authorize the use of footage from legally installed hidden cameras to be used in criminal and civil lawsuits. However, Rep. Cooper did not agree to the changes and the bill did not pass.

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‘The Hawks’ Guy’ has logged 30 years courtside and is shooting for a record of his own

Steve Holman is on a roll. Really on a roll.

The longtime Atlanta Hawks play-by-play caller hasn’t missed a game since early 1989, the year of the Berlin Wall’s fall, Nintendo Gameboy and the first-ever episode of The Simpsons.

Through bouts with the flu, the death of son Steve Jr. and getting smacked squarely in the face by a rocketing basketball while calling a Hawks-Bulls game, he has been behind the mike for more than 30 years of consecutive “basketball battles,” as he likes to call them. That covers every game during the regular and postseasons (he doesn’t count preseason games) and he said he has announced 2,703 games as of mid-April. That’s second only to the late Chick Hearn, who called 3,338 L.A. Lakers games without a miss.

The Lawrence, Massachusetts, native got into radio in high school working at the legendary Curt Gowdy’s station in his hometown. He worked with and learned at the knee of Johnny Most, the longtime voice of the Boston Celtics and scored a Boston radio gig before coming to Atlanta, working as a radio sports anchor and doing Falcons games before heading courtside in the mid80s.

Senior Life contributor Mark Woolsey caught up with the selfdescribed “spry” 67-year-old recently as Holman drove from his Newnan home to State Farm Arena for a HawksSuns game.

Q. What took you from small-town Massachusetts radio to the deep South?

A. [Johnny Most] lost his voice in November of 1976 and I took over for him. I wound up doing a couple of weeks’ worth of games. Then I got hired at the [Boston] CBS station by a guy who’d heard me. In 1980, Mike Wheeler, who was my boss in Boston came to Atlanta and to start the All-News station WGST (where Holman anchored sportscasts for years) and he called me saying, “Do you want to come to Atlanta?” I said, “I’ve never been to Atlanta.”

He asked me to call him back in 15 minutes then said, “We’ll give you two tickets to Atlanta [to check it out] or we’ll give you $800 toward moving.” I took the $800 and came to Atlanta sight unseen.

Q. How has basketball changed since you started doing the Hawks?

A. In the late 80s with Dominique Wilkins and Carl Malone and all of those guys, it was kind of a rock-em, sock-em NBA back then. Now it’s evolved over the years into a very offensive-minded game and with the 3-point shot, that’s one of the big things that’s changed. It’s not nearly as physical as it was back then. Otherwise, it’s still a great game and I still look forward to it and love it every night.

Q. Who have been your favorite players down through the years?

A. It all starts with Dominique [Wilkins]. I mean, I sit across from him on the charter flights. I was broadcasting his games in 1985 and we’ve been friends ever since. Dikembe [Mutombo] is up there too. Also, Doc Rivers and, believe it or not, Jon Koncak. I really like our current team, too. I am a big fan of John Collins and Trae Young,

Q. What’s behind the way you call a game?

A. I let whatever happens on the floor come to me. It’s not like I have lines I practice or think about. One of the things that makes my broadcast better is I just say what I think happened. I don’t try to stage anything.

When I say something, I like to think that I am saying it for the fans...that they’re saying the same thing I am. And if they’re not playing well, I’ll say that too.

Q. You are reputed to be meticulous about how you prepare for games. What does that look like?

A. I am still [at it] the oldfashioned way. I write out my scorecard every day and put my stats on there. I use the computer as well, of course; there are a lot of computer statistics that are available to us and I use that on a regular basis. I use the same scorecard that I used to make for Johnny Most. Same format and same style and I find that keeps me in the game better.

Q. What are your thoughts on the Hawks’ fan base these days?

A. We have terrific fans. We have a very likeable team right now and I think our fan base now is as passionate as it’s ever been. I’ll run into people at Publix or Kroger or walking in the neighborhood with my dog Gowdy and people I don’t really know will say “Go Hawks” or “The Hawks are great.”

Q. What do you think is the future of radio play-by-play?

A. They have discounted radio several times over my 36 seasons. But I think what has happened now is that radio has become more popular and important because of the internet and Sirius-XM and the NBA App that can be used anywhere and anytime. So, I think the future is brighter for radio than it was 20 years ago.

Q. What do you do to relax and recharge?

A. A lot of times I’ll watch games. That’s basically what I do. I watch the news and I watch a lot of games. I used to play golf, but I sucked at it, so I don’t do that anymore. I like to hang with the grandkids. They have become a very important part of my life.

Q. The streak is obviously important to you. What do you think are the prospects for passing that one guy still in front of you?

A. I feel I am probably in the best shape of my life. All summer long, I was walking 10 or 11 miles a day. Now that the season’s started again, I’ve cut back to sixand-a-half a day. So, I don’t think there’s any reason I can’t pass Chick, God willing.

Q, If and when you do hang up the headphones, how would you like to be remembered?

A. I just want to be known as the guy who was the Hawks announcer. One of my great joys in this job now is that someone in their 30s will come up with their own child. And they’ll say “Johnny, this is Mr. Holman. I used to listen to him when I was your age.”

I just want to be remembered as the Hawks Guy, that’s all… a guy who loved the Hawks and loved his job. And like I say I have no plans to ever sit on the porch and retire. They might have to peel my frozen hands away from the microphone.