Earlier this week, I sent a letter to recently appointed @TexasHHSC Commissioner Young congratulating her and strongly urging her to provide guidelines that allow Texans to visit their family members in nursing homes safely, even if those guidelines do not allow physical contact.

Five months is too long to be separated from nursing home family members, many of whom have memory loss or suffer from dementia. There is no length to which children, grandchildren, and spouses will not go or rules they will not follow in order to safely visit loved ones...

in these care facilities. As we fight the virus and seek to protect physical health, we can't sacrifice the mental & emotional well-being of nursing home residents in the process.

Not to mention on-site salons at care facilities remain closed, which may seem like a minor...

annoyance to some of us, but for this population, I continue to hear this has had a continued negative impact on residents. If Texans can continue going to the hospital for surgical procedures, residents should be able to get their hair done. You can read the full letter above.