Patients died alone during COVID. N.J. congressman wants to ban hospitals from keeping visitors out.

Dave Williamson died alone.

The Absecon resident was hospitalized after testing positive for coronavirus in December 2021. He died a month later, never seeing his family again.

“It was just a nightmare for everybody,” said his widow, Stephanie Williamson. “He was isolated and alone. It was like being in solitary confinement.”

It was a scene that played out again and again because restricting who could come into hospitals was one of the steps taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially in a state that was Ground Zero for COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic.

“It’s a matter of safety,” said Dr. Kennedy Ganti, a past president of the Medical Society of New Jersey and an assistant professor of medicine at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden.

“We want to limit the spread of disease and the loss of life. Hospitals often times meet with their infectious disease experts to determine what’s the best course. We understand family members are critical to the healing process. It is only through rare exceptions that we have to limit their visitations. Repeatedly, the decisions were made to protect everybody.”

Still, that meant patients dying alone, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., has introduced legislation requiring hospitals to admit visitors after meeting with Williamson and a friend of hers who also lost her husband.

“I had patients who literally had to see their loved ones pass away and weren’t able to touch them,” said Van Drew, who was a dentist before being elected to Congress. “They didn’t have that normal human empathy and compassion that someone who was passing away should get.”

A study conducted by three medical experts in Japan and Sweden found that there was something to Van Drew’s concerns. The report concluded: “Visiting restrictions had several consequences, mainly negative, for the patient’s health, the health and wellbeing of family members and the provision of care.”

“Among physical health consequences, reduced nutrition intake, decreased activities of daily living and increased physical pain and symptoms were reported,” the study said. “Among mental health consequences for the patient, loneliness, depressive symptoms, agitation, aggression, reduced cognitive ability and overall dissatisfaction were observed.”

In addition to being unable to see her husband, Williamson said she couldn’t personally check in with doctors about his care, express concerns, or respond to requests. She couldn’t see if he was responding to treatment, or what other steps could be taken. She couldn’t even hold his hand and wish that he would get better.

“The most important thing is the support and motivation that leads to positive outcomes,” she said.

But the bans on visitors came at a time when New Jersey was one of the hardest-hit states. Its surge came early during the pandemic when doctors were trying to figure out how to treat this new virus. Through Friday, 35,774 people died in the state, 32,658 of which were confirmed and 3,116 probable.

“We were learning as we were going through the process,” said Ganti. “Repeatedly, the decisions were made to protect everybody.”

Cathy Bennett, president and chief executive of the New Jersey Hospital Association, said COVID-19 was a unique event.

“The support of loved ones is an important part of healing,” Bennett said. “However, during the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to follow guidance from CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and public health officials and respond to surges when New Jersey was at high risk. These actions were taken to ensure the safety of our patients, their loved ones and hospital staff.”

Still, Williamson said there should have been a way to let her visit her husband in the hospital.

“The benefits greatly outweigh the risks, which can be controlled by appropriate safety precautions,” she said.

Van Drew agreed.

“If you’re careful, and there is a point where the patients have to make their own decisions, and when it’s a family member, I think the good that is done by seeing somebody that you love, maybe for the last time, outlasts any negative harm that could be caused,” Van Drew said.

In some cases, the visits would have taken place only “when they’re passing” and “towards the end when you want to see them and touch them.”

Like many Republicans, Van Drew has been one of the critics of Dr. Anthony Fauci and the restrictions recommended in response to the pandemic. He has called for a congressional investigation of the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The American people could do nothing as Dr. Fauci responded to the pandemic week after week with new, and often contradicting, guidelines,” Van Drew said last August.

.Ganti said he understood the anguish families felt by being unable to see their loved ones, but the circumstances at the time outweighed the benefits of visits.

“These decisions are not made in a vacuum,” he said. “Understanding patients’ families are part of the healing process, when the risks outweigh the benefits, such difficult decisions have to be made.”

Ganti said he would “want to follow the best science and the best public health directives,” and hoped Congress “would listen to the experts like I would.”

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant.