How do you check if the matlab engine is connected to a process using the python api

I am using Matlab through Python.

eng = matlab.engine.connect_matlab() works as expected and I can interact, no problems.

How do I check if the eng variable is connected?

I have multiple bits of code that will interact with my instance of eng, and I do not want to start a new process/connection each time. I would rather check to see if eng is a valid connection then use it, else start a connection and then use it.

I can't seem to find any list of methods/properties that are within the MatlabEngine class.

Something like, eng.is_connected returning a bool would be ideal?