DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa families could soon be able to keep a closer eye on their loved ones living in a nursing home, thanks to a new bill moving through the statehouse.
Under House File 537, security cameras could legally be installed inside a resident's room. Only the resident's family would have access to the footage. Residents or their family members would need to pay for and install the cameras themselves and a sign must also be put up outside the room giving notice of the surveillance.
"If mom and dad are in a different state, you as a family member can have access to them and check on them," said Rep. Brooke Boden, R-Indianola.
According to Paige Yontz, state advocate director for AARP Iowa, many nursing homes in Iowa do not have private rooms, meaning that residents often live with a roommate. All residents living in a room together must consent to a camera being installed under the bill.
Boden, along with Republican Reps. Joel Fry and Ann Meyer, sponsored the legislation. They believe the cameras would provide families with an extra sense of comfort and improve resident safety.
The bill comes on the heels of repeated incidents of abuse, neglect and under-staffing at facilities across the state. Many believe this added sense of transparency could stop some of those incidents from happening.
"If we are paying attention in Iowa, we have a crisis in our nursing homes, because of the short-staffed issue," Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo.
Brown-Powers acknowledges the issues taking place but does have reservations with the new bill.
"I have had concerns about it, just for HIPAA purposes, first of all, and also dignity of the patient," she told Local 5.
However, Brown-Powers was part of the majority to sign on to the bill and move it out of the House Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee.
"I've also talked to the nursing homes, and this particular bill, they feel like the safeguards are there," Brown-Powers said. "Doing nothing is not an option, so we have to do something."
On Tuesday, the subcommittee unanimously recommended passage of the bill, which will be considered by the full committee in the coming weeks.