Letter to the Healthcare Association of New York State and the Greater New York Hospitals Association - Rose Leads 15 NY Reps. in Calling for Compassionate Companion Volunteer Program at NY Hospitals

Letter

Dear New York Hospital CEOs and Chief Administrators,

We write to urge that your hospitals create new Compassionate Companion Volunteer Programs
to connect patients with their loved ones while they are hospitalized and to provide
companionship for those patients without family members available. We stand with our
colleagues in the New York State Assembly and Senate, and the New York City Council in
supporting this proposal.

We commend our hospitals and staff for the work they have been doing on the front lines of the
COVID-19 pandemic. You have all demonstrated incredible leadership during this crisis, and
demonstrated to the nation New York's strength. While tens of thousands of New Yorkers are
hospitalized due to coronavirus, all too many are isolated from family and loved ones in their
time of need.

These Compassionate Companions programs will identify individuals who can aid in nonmedical, quality-of-life activities to ease a patient's and their family's loneliness due to
separation. Companions can assist patients to connect with loved ones via phone calls or video
chats and provide direct support in times of need. If patients have difficulty communicating,
volunteers can help keep families informed, and support staff with strengthening cultural
competency and overcoming language barriers between the patient and staff.

Compassionate Companion volunteers would also provide some much-needed relief to our
overwhelmed hospital staff, by assisting with some of the patients' non-medical needs. For the
patient's comfort and speedy recuperation, if there is a family member that is capable of doing
the same kind of work, they should take preference as long as they meet the criteria and have
been appropriately trained.

Of course, it would be essential to minimize the likelihood that Compassionate Companions
would become infected with COVID-19. Compassionate Helpers would require personal
protective equipment and training and would follow any volunteer protocols already in place, for
example, receiving the tuberculosis vaccine or other typical measures that are taken to maintain
patient, staff, and volunteer health and safety. To the extent medical science develops the ability
to detect immunity from COVID-19, for example through antibody testing, the program could
prioritize those with immunity in accepting volunteers and family members. We would
encourage the State and City health departments to work with you to develop standards for
selection, training, and deploying Compassionate Companions in your institutions.

The hospitals will have control over who is accepted as a Compassionate Companion and can
terminate any individual who is not working in the best interest of the patients and families
involved. We believe that such a program will give peace of mind to patients and their families,
as well as help lessen the strain on our frontline healthcare workers. We therefore offer our
support for the creation of this program and stand ready to assist with any statutory or logistical
challenges that may be an issue.