Protect Your Family in a Nursing Home With a Camera

It is a sad fact that too many nursing homes in Texas and the greater Houston area abuse or neglect their vulnerable residents. If you are concerned about the treatment your loved one is receiving in a Texas nursing home then you may have considered using a “granny cam” to find out exactly what is going on when you are not around. Texas has some very specific laws on how to properly install a “granny cam” in a Texas nursing home. If you do not follow those laws, then you act at your own peril and run the risk of violating someone else’s rights while attempting to protect your loved one’s rights.

Here are the basic rules concerning installing a “granny cam” in a Houston nursing home:

  1. The nursing home must permit the resident or the resident’s guardian to monitor the room through the use of electronic monitoring devices. They cannot refuse your proper request to install a camera.
  2. You must make a formal request to install a “granny cam” on the form required by the Department of Aging and Disability Services;
  3. You must obtain the written consent of other residents in the room;
  4. The nursing home shall require a resident (or their guardian) who conducts authorized electronic monitoring to post and maintain a conspicuous notice at the entrance to the resident’s room. The notice must state that the room is being monitored by an electronic monitoring device.
  5. The nursing home may not refuse to admit an individual  and may not remove a resident  because of a request to conduct authorized electronic monitoring.
  6. The nursing home must make reasonable physical accommodation for authorized electronic monitoring, including: (1) providing a reasonably secure place to mount the video surveillance camera or other electronic monitoring device; and (2) providing access to power sources for the video surveillance camera or other electronic monitoring device.
  7. The resident or the resident’s guardian must pay for all costs associated with conducting electronic monitoring, other than the costs of electricity. The resident or the resident’s guardian or legal representative is responsible for: (1) all costs associated with installation of equipment; and (2) maintaining the equipment.
  8. The nursing  home may require an electronic monitoring device to be installed in a manner that is safe for residents, employees, or visitors who may be moving about the room.
  9. If authorized electronic monitoring is conducted, the nursing home  may require the resident or the resident’s guardian or legal representative to conduct the electronic monitoring in plain view.
  10. The nursing home  may but is not required to place a resident in a different room to accommodate a request to conduct authorized electronic monitoring.

Contact us at (832) 592-7913  if you need help finding a nursing home, getting the best care there, or paying for it without going broke.

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2 Comments

  1. The nursing home keeps my camera that I installed in my moms room offline 80% of the time , it’s in Houston Texas, all legal, can I have my own internet installed and pay for it myself

  2. If the internet installation is going to require physical installation to their services like phone lines I do not believe you can force them to allow that. If you cannot work out an arrangement with them, you can always switch to an offline camera that records everything within itself and then review the recordings as needed. Alternatively, you can look at internet service that does not require a physical connection to their services like satellite internet or some kind of cellular internet.

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