SENATOR MAHER VOTES TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE WORKERS, BOLSTER PUBLIC HEALTH THROUGH SENATE BILL 1

Today, State Senator Ceci Maher (D-Wilton) voted for the Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 1, which seeks to improve health and safety of Connecticut residents including improving on-job safety of home health care workers, developing working groups to study pressing threats to general public health and improved oversight and monitoring of serious mental and physical health maladies.

“Health care workers, especially home care workers, deserve the same protection and health they provide their patients,” said Sen. Maher. “By taking action to keep them safe while providing care, we take steps to secure the future of home health care, especially as home care will continue to grow in years to come. This, in addition to Senate Bill 1’s many other steps to improve public health statewide, is a worthwhile bill that benefits countless residents.”

Senate Bill 1, “An Act Concerning The Health And Safety Of Connecticut Residents,” promises to make a number of changes to current health care and public health laws, with its foremost intent improvements to the health and safety of the home health care workers who take care of Connecticut residents every day.

The law will require home health care and home health aide agencies to collect and provide information regarding patient history of violence toward healthcare workers, substance use, domestic abuse and violent acts or sex offender registry inclusion, as well as information regarding the safety of residences they plan to visit. Agencies will also provide annual staff training to recognize hazards commonly encountered in home care workplaces and have monthly safety assessments with staff and provide a mobile app or GPS system for on-duty safety checks.

The bill will also create a grant program for escorts and safety tools from the Department of Social Services and create a working group comprised of stakeholders in the home care industry, including workers, police and organization representatives to study health care worker safety.

This drive to support home care workers came after the October 2023 death of home care nurse Joyce Grayson, who was killed while visiting a patient who resided in a halfway house; that patient has since been charged with her murder. The urgency of the call only grew after the January 2024 deaths of live-in caregiver Otoliegle Morulane and his patient in an East Lyme house fire.

In addition to Senate Bill 1’s focus on health care worker safety, it takes a broad, overarching approach to improving public health in Connecticut. Its measures include development and distribution of gun safety material distribution for increased awareness and education; working groups to study health issues like nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, loneliness and isolation, and nail salon workers’ potential exposure to chemicals; studies on prescription drug shortages; increased public access and education regarding opioid drug deactivation systems; and increased oversight and studying of Parkinson’s Disease and schizophrenia, among many other aspects.

The bill further will support individual and group health plans covering coronary calcium scans, will ensure hospitals are prepared for cybersecurity breaches and have plans to respond if needed, and will support a statewide health information exchange that will interconnect myriad state medical services.

Prior to the Senate’s approval today, Senate Bill 1 was previously approved by a 25-12 vote on March 20 in the Public Health Committee. It will next be considered by the House; upon its passage there, it would proceed to the Governor’s office to be signed into law.