Tennessee House Health Committee To Consider Bill To Protect In-Person Hospital Visits

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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

Legislation to prevent Tennessee hospitals from restricting visitation of patients by individuals with power of attorney will be heard by the House Health Committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1883 (HB1883), sponsored by Representative Kip Capley (R-Summertown-District 71), “creates the right of an attorney in fact designated to make healthcare decisions under a durable power of attorney for health care to conduct at least one in-person visitation with the principal for each day the principal is in a hospital; permits the hospital to require the attorney in fact to submit to non-invasive health and safety protocols; prohibits the visitation right from being terminated, suspended, waived, or otherwise limited during a declared disaster or state of emergency. – Amends TCA Title 34; Title 63 and Title 68.”

The bill would guarantee that a person who is deemed power of attorney is able to visit a patient at least once a day for a minimum of one hour.

The companion Senate Bill 1641 (SB1641), sponsored by Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon-District 17), has already passed through the Senate.

The House Health Committee will consider the legislation on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

If you would like to express your support of this bill, please contact the members of the committee as listed below prior to that meeting date.

House Health Committee Members

Bryan Terry (Chair) (R) – rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2180

Tom Leatherwood (Vice-Chair) (R) – rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7084

Aftyn Behn (D) – rep.aftyn.behn@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3229

Clark Boyd (R) – rep.clark.boyd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7086

Kip Capley (R) – rep.kip.capley@capitol.tn.gov – (614) 741-2190

Michele Carringer (R) – rep.michele.carringer@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1721

John Ray Clemmons (D) – rep.john.ray.clemmons@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4410

Jeremy Faison (R) – rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6871

Andrew Farmer (R) – rep.andrew.farmer@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4419

John Gillespie (R) – rep.john.gillespie@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-8201

Yusuf Hakeem (D) – rep.yusuf.hakeem@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2702

David B. Hawk (R) – rep.david.hawk@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7482

Esther Helton-Haynes (R) – rep.esther.helton@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1934

Caleb Hemmer (D) – rep.caleb.hemmer@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2035

Gary Hicks (R) – rep.gary.hicks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7480

Tim Hicks (R) – rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1717

Timothy Hill (R) – rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov – (614) 741-2050

Darren Jernigan (D) – rep.darren.jernigan@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6959

Sabi “Doc” Kumar (R) – rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2860

Brock Martin (R) – rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7478

Bo Mitchell (D) – rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4317

Iris Rudder (R) – rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-8695

Paul Sherrell (R) – rep.paul.sherrell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1963

Ron Travis (R) – rep.ron.travis@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1450

Kevin Vaughan (R) – rep.kevin.vaughan@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1866

Sam Whitson (R) – rep.sam.whitson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1864

Ryan Williams (R) – rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1875

rep.aftyn.behn@capitol.tn.gov, rep.clark.boyd@capitol.tn.gov, rep.kip.capley@capitol.tn.gov, rep.michele.carringer@capitol.tn.gov , rep.john.ray.clemmons@capitol.tn.gov, rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov, rep.andrew.farmer@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.gillespie@capitol.tn.gov, rep.yusuf.hakeem@capitol.tn.gov, rep.david.hawk@capitol.tn.gov, rep.esther.helton@capitol.tn.gov, rep.caleb.hemmer@capitol.tn.gov, rep.gary.hicks@capitol.tn.gov, rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov, rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov, rep.darren.jernigan@capitol.tn.gov, rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov, rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov, rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov, rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov, rep.paul.sherrell@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ron.travis@capitol.tn.gov, rep.kevin.vaughan@capitol.tn.gov, rep.sam.whitson@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov