republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020speciali/sb-5042.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospice facilities; public health emergency, etc."
description: "State Board of Health; public health emergency; patient visitation; notice to family; emergency. Requires each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility to establish a protocol to allow each patient to receive visits, consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as directed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the State Board of Health. Such protocol shall include provisions describing (i) the conditions, including conditions related to the presence of COVID-19 in the facility and community, under which in-person visits will be allowed and under which in-person visits will not be allowed and visits will be required to be virtual; (ii) the requirements with which in-person visitors will be required to comply to protect the health and safety of the patients and staff of the facility; (iii) the types of technology, including interactive audio or video technology, and the staff support necessary to ensure visits are provided; and (iv) the steps the facility will take in the event of a technology failure, service interruption, or documented emergency that prevent visits from occurring. Such protocol shall also include (a) a statement of the frequency with which visits, including virtual and in-person, where appropriate, will be allowed, which shall be at least once every 10 calendar days for each patient; (b) a provision authorizing a patient or the patient's personal representative to waive or limit visitation, provided that such waiver or limitation is included in the patient's health record; and (c) a requirement that each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility publish on its website or communicate to each patient or the patient's authorized representative, in writing or via electronic means, the facility's plan for providing visits to patients. The bill contains an emergency clause and requires the Department of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020specialI"
identifier: "SB 5042"
citation: "Virginia SB 5042 (2020specialI)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 4
action_count: 33
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-08-15"
last_action: "2020-10-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fcff437e-b4a8-4f27-894d-224cb992d265"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+sum+SB5042"
source_hash: "bc317a4986d095085d515cf1733e0f0e8c095f46042075f6bd3461c50a779f82"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 5042 (2020specialI) — Nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospice facilities; public health emergency, etc.

State Board of Health; public health emergency; patient visitation; notice to family; emergency. Requires each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility to establish a protocol to allow each patient to receive visits, consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as directed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the State Board of Health. Such protocol shall include provisions describing (i) the conditions, including conditions related to the presence of COVID-19 in the facility and community, under which in-person visits will be allowed and under which in-person visits will not be allowed and visits will be required to be virtual; (ii) the requirements with which in-person visitors will be required to comply to protect the health and safety of the patients and staff of the facility; (iii) the types of technology, including interactive audio or video technology, and the staff support necessary to ensure visits are provided; and (iv) the steps the facility will take in the event of a technology failure, service interruption, or documented emergency that prevent visits from occurring. Such protocol shall also include (a) a statement of the frequency with which visits, including virtual and in-person, where appropriate, will be allowed, which shall be at least once every 10 calendar days for each patient; (b) a provision authorizing a patient or the patient's personal representative to waive or limit visitation, provided that such waiver or limitation is included in the patient's health record; and (c) a requirement that each nursing home, certified nursing facility, and hospice facility publish on its website or communicate to each patient or the patient's authorized representative, in writing or via electronic means, the facility's plan for providing visits to patients. The bill contains an emergency clause and requires the Department of Health to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0011)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+ful+CHAP0011)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB5042ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+ful+SB5042ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB5042S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+ful+SB5042S1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB5042)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+ful+SB5042)

## Votes

- Reported from Education and Health (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (36-Y 0-N) — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendments (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-08-15** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 08/18/20 20200357D `introduction`
- **2020-08-15** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-08-19** Reported from Education and Health (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-08-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-08-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB5042)
- **2020-08-26** Passed by for the day
- **2020-08-27** Floor substitute printed 20201019D-S1 (Kiggans)
- **2020-08-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-08-27** Amendments by Senator Cosgrove withdrawn `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2020-08-27** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-08-27** Substitute by Senator Kiggans agreed to 20201019D-S1
- **2020-08-27** Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB5042S1
- **2020-08-28** Read third time and passed Senate (36-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-09-02** Impact statement from DPB (SB5042S1)
- **2020-09-17** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-09-17** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-09-17** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-09-17** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-09-17** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendments (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-09-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-09-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-09-25** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-09-25** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-09-25** Passed House with amendments BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-09-25** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N)
- **2020-10-02** House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-10-07** Enrolled
- **2020-10-07** Impact statement from DPB (SB5042ER)
- **2020-10-07** Signed by President
- **2020-10-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-10-14** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on October 14, 2020
- **2020-10-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., October 21, 2020
- **2020-10-21** Approved by Governor-Chapter 11 (effective 10/21/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fcff437e-b4a8-4f27-894d-224cb992d265`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).