Sounding off: Families have right to visit nursing home residents - TribLIVE

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I am writing to all families who have loved ones residing in nursing facilities in Pennsylvania. If your loved one is terminally ill or emotionally struggling, you have the right to in-person visits.

On Sept. 17, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released memorandum QSO-20-39-NH to provide new guidance on visitation in nursing homes during the pandemic. In this guidance, CMS permits visitation by a resident’s loved ones in “end of life situations” and when “compassionate care” visits are deemed important to the psychological health of the resident.

“End of life” is defined by CMS as a resident who is terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less. It is not limited to situations where death is imminent or the resident is “actively dying.” “Compassionate care” visits can occur regardless of a resident’s life expectancy. Unfortunately, many facilities continue to restrict all visitation until the last hours or days of a resident’s life.

My family had to fight to gain the right to visit my father, who is under hospice care for end-stage cancer and a resident of a nursing facility in Western Pennsylvania. It is unclear whether other hospice families in this facility have been notified of their right to visit their loved ones.

Families should know that their dying or struggling loved ones do not have to take this journey alone.

Susan Kline, Delmont

UPMC nurses are overwhelmed

I am a nurse at UPMC in Pittsburgh, and I believe UPMC is misleading the public with the recent press conference (“UPMC expects to receive covid vaccine soon, distribute to health care workers after authorization”). Nurses at UPMC are overwhelmed, scared and anxious about what is to come. The statement by Leslie Davis about a sense of calm at all of the hospitals is false. Many of us are not calm.

I am concerned that this optimistic message that UPMC is sending is more for its profit gains. It is telling the public the wrong message. Covid-19 will overwhelm us, and we all need to do our part to slow the surge. UPMC must place its hubris aside and accept the reality of this pandemic. While profits are essential to ensure the future of UPMC in our region, we cannot put a dollar on the damage that will happen to our nurses, doctors and other health care professionals by ignoring reality and operating as usual.

We no longer feel like heroes. Many of us have a sense of dread, foreboding and futility in our calling to help care for people and what is to come. We need everyone to do their part — mask, wash their hands and social distance.

Tyler Traister, Garfield

North Huntingdon commissioners’ callousness

Your Dec. 13 issue was filled with articles about covid-19: weekly deaths hit a high in Westmoreland County, hospitals and health care workers plead with the community to follow CDC guidelines, health care facilities at breaking point, etc.

And then there was the article “North Huntingdon says ‘no’ to Wolf’s limits on indoor crowds.” The North Huntingdon commissioners are ignoring Gov. Tom Wolf and CDC guidelines. Their callousness is unimaginable — 3,000 Americans dying daily, and they thumb their noses at procedures meant to save lives. What depraved indifference.

They demand their freedom. Guess what: If you want total freedom, go live on an island all by yourself. But if you want to live in a civilized society where someone else is supplying you with health care, food, schools, utilities and safety, then you must consider other people’s freedoms and rights. These people may be of a different race, religion or political party and may have different opinions, but they have the same rights to life and liberty that you do.

Politics is not a sports game. You are not the winner if the other guy loses. We lose or win together. What a tragedy for our country that we allow some people to pull us apart. What a lack of patriotism when we do not think of our country as one, of our people as one.

Joanne Garing, North Huntingdon

Love God by loving all you encounter

Scripture tells us that the Christ child was “laid in a manger” because there was no room for him elsewhere. He was turned away.

Today, the Christ child continues to be turned away. He is turned away when there is no room in our hearts for our LGBTQ neighbors. He is turned away when there is no room in our hearts for our immigrant and refugee sisters and brothers. He is turned away when there is no room in our hearts for our incarcerated brethren. He is turned away when there is no room in our hearts for anyone who doesn’t look like us, pray like us, talk like us, think like us or vote like us.

Contrary to what politicians and preachers want you to believe, the “war on Christmas” isn’t out there in the public square, or on cable TV, or on social media. The “war on Christmas” is in each and every one of our own hearts. Until we make room in our hearts for all of God’s children, the Christ child will never be welcome in our world.

The great Catholic social activist Dorothy Day said: “We only love God as much as the person we love the least.”

This Christmas, let us resolve to open our hearts and receive the Christ child in everyone we encounter — especially the people we love the least.

Keith G. Kondrich, Swisshelm Park

The writer is a deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

North Huntingdon chooses sunshine

Regarding the article “County considers pulling $30K grant from North Huntingdon for defying state public health mandates”: The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act ensures the right of the public “to be present at all meetings of agencies” and further, that it is “vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the democratic process.” It also declares it to be the policy of the commonwealth to ensure the right of its citizens to attend all meetings of agencies at which business is discussed. This allows for citizens’ input on matters of concern and official action.

As a North Huntingdon Township commissioner, I choose to follow the Sunshine Act and be present at monthly meetings. This allows citizens who feel comfortable to do so to attend and have the opportunity to be heard. Although questions and comments also are accepted by email for the meetings, individuals have the express right to be present if they desire. Safety measures are taken at meetings to ensure everyone’s safety. To deny our citizens this right by some arbitrary and unconstitutional recommendations that have not been shown to be based on facts is simply not the way to run government.

As a Pennsylvania State Police trooper for 31 years, I had to make decisions on a daily basis that could have long-lasting effects on people’s lives. I made those decisions by balancing the rights and freedoms of the individual with the rights and laws of the commonwealth. As a commissioner, I pledge to always do the same.

Ronald Zona, North Huntingdon

Time to help our businesses, workers

For the last nine months, the pandemic has been raging across our country and across the world. Over the past few weeks, things only have gotten worse — with more infections, more hospitalizations, more deaths, more politicization and now another closure.

I agree that we need to mitigate this virus, support our hospitals and keep people as safe and healthy as possible, especially our most vulnerable citizens. However, this most recent shutdown, while necessary, has been executed poorly.

Front-line workers are trying to keep everyone safe and keep things functioning. While this current shutdown may help slow the spread of the virus, it is dealing death blows to already struggling businesses while larger retail chains are raking in increased profits.

I’m in full support of getting this virus under control; however, I’m also in support of getting aid to those who need it most — businesses, front-line workers and the unemployed. While I applaud Congress for passing a bipartisan deal, it should have happened sooner, and this bill does not go far enough. Struggling Americans need significant help immediately.

It’s not a handout. It’s a prevention measure to stop our economy from free-falling, to stop this health crisis from getting even worse and to stop causing avoidable deaths and sickness to innocent Americans. The health of our communities, our economy and our nation are at stake. Will the state Legislature and U.S. Congress give a bigger boost to the American people in the new year?

Matt Shorraw, Monessen

Representatives aimed to subvert democracy

Seven Republican U.S. congressmen from Pennsylvania — Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (District 14), John Joyce (13), Fred Keller (12), Mike Kelly (16), Dan Meuser (9), Scott Perry (10) and Glenn Thompson (15) — signed on to the lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Dec. 7.

The suit filed against Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin repeated false, disproven and unsubstantiated accusations about the voting in these four states that went for President- elect Joe Biden. The case demanded that the high court invalidate the states’ 62 total Electoral College votes. That’s an unprecedented remedy in American history, setting aside the votes of tens of millions of people under the baseless claim the Republican incumbent lost a chance at a second term due to widespread fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the case on Dec. 11.

Think about what these seven Pennsylvana lawmakers did. They sided with Texas to throw out millions of votes legally cast by their own constituents. Reschenthaler, who is supposed to represent me, wanted my vote invalidated.

These seven representatives conspired in an attempt to subvert our democracy and overthrow an American election. Their actions were shameful and cowardly, and to quote Sen. Mitt Romney, “madness.” They have no dedication to principle, just ambition; no sense of duty or decency.

They have lost the right to represent the people of Pennsylvanian. Given their apparent ignorance of the Constitution they have sworn to uphold, they should resign. More likely, we’ll have to wait two years to act on their attack on our country.

Mary Ann Clever, New Kensington

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