Bill Text: NY A01633 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 35-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-02 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [A01633 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A01633-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1633--A Cal. No. 47 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, CRUZ, REYES, GLICK, WEPRIN, BURDICK, JACOBSON, OTIS, CUNNINGHAM, SEAWRIGHT, SANTABARBARA, MITAYNES, GONZA- LEZ-ROJAS, COLTON, FORREST, PHEFFER AMATO, BARRETT, SHRESTHA, LEVEN- BERG, ARDILA, MAMDANI, DINOWITZ, TAPIA, LEE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CARROLL, COOK, DAVILA, EPSTEIN, HEVESI, PAULIN, STECK, WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to providing public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "local input in community healthcare act". 3 § 2. Section 2801-g of the public health law, as added by chapter 541 4 of the laws of 2010, subdivision 4 as added by section 3 of part E of 5 chapter 57 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 6 § 2801-g. Community [forum] notice and engagement on hospital closure. 7 1. Written notification of a proposed closure of a general hospital or 8 unit of a general hospital must be provided to the department and all 9 parties listed in subdivision seven of this section no later than two 10 hundred seventy days prior to the proposed closure date. As used in 11 this section, "unit" means a portion of a general hospital that offers 12 emergency, maternity, and mental health or substance use services. 13 "Unit" shall also mean any other hospital service or health-related 14 service of a hospital, including specialty care services, if the 15 proposed closure will result in the reduction or unavailability of such 16 services in the hospital's service area or county where it is located. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02692-06-4A. 1633--A 2 1 2. A general hospital that seeks to close entirely or close one or 2 more units shall submit an application that requires review and approval 3 by the public health and health planning council, or any successor enti- 4 ty. The application for the closure shall include a health equity impact 5 assessment, as defined by section twenty-eight hundred two-b of this 6 article, and a proposed closure plan. The application shall be submitted 7 at least two hundred ten days before the proposed closure. No cessation, 8 pause, transfer, or limitation of service may be carried out without 9 prior written approval by the commissioner. As used in this section, 10 "transfer of services" shall include conversion of services from inpa- 11 tient to outpatient services, the moving of services to other facili- 12 ties, or the transfer of personnel that would constitute a reduction or 13 unavailability of services. 14 3. No later than [thirty] one hundred fifty days [after] prior to the 15 proposed closure of a general hospital or a unit of a general hospital, 16 the commissioner shall hold a public community forum for the purpose of 17 obtaining public input concerning the anticipated impact of the general 18 hospital's or general hospital unit's closure on access to health care 19 services by members of the surrounding community, including but not 20 limited to recipients of medical assistance for needy persons, the unin- 21 sured, and medically underserved populations as defined in paragraph (d) 22 of subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred two-b of this 23 article, and options and proposals to ameliorate such anticipated 24 impact. The commissioner shall afford community members, health care 25 providers, labor unions, payers, businesses and consumers a reasonable 26 opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community forum. 27 [2.] 4. No later than [sixty] thirty days [after] before holding a 28 community forum pursuant to subdivision [one] three of this section, the 29 commissioner shall make available to the public on the department's 30 website information regarding: 31 (a) the proposed closure plan submitted by the health facility; 32 (b) the anticipated impact of the general hospital's closure or unit's 33 closure on access to health care services by members of the surrounding 34 community, including but not limited to recipients of medical assistance 35 for needy persons, the uninsured, and underserved populations; 36 [(b)] (c) specific measures the department and other parties have 37 taken or will take to ameliorate such anticipated impact including but 38 not limited to ensuring that the services to be eliminated would be 39 available to Medicaid, or individuals that are insured by a publicly- 40 subsidized plan and uninsured patients at the surrounding area facili- 41 ties that are taking new patients; and 42 [(c)] (d) any further recommendations regarding access to health care 43 services in communities impacted by the general hospital's closure or 44 unit's closure. 45 [3.] 5. A community forum conducted pursuant to this section shall be 46 held at a location within a reasonable proximity to the general hospital 47 or unit subject to the proposed closure, and shall be announced no less 48 than [ten] fourteen days prior to the date of such community forum. Such 49 forum shall be held at a proper time and be accessible to the impacted 50 community virtually and physically. 51 [4.] 6. At least thirty days prior to a general hospital applying to 52 the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services to convert from a 53 general hospital with inpatients to a rural emergency hospital under 42 54 USC 1395x(kkk), or successor provisions, such general hospital shall 55 hold a public community forum for the purpose of obtaining public input 56 concerning the anticipated impact of the general hospital's closure ofA. 1633--A 3 1 inpatient units, including but not limited to, the impact on recipients 2 of medical assistance for needy persons, the uninsured, people with 3 disabilities, and medically underserved populations, and options and 4 proposals to ameliorate such anticipated impact. 5 [The] 7. No later than thirty days prior to a community forum under 6 this section, the general hospital shall notify health care providers, 7 labor unions, the [congressional] local, state, and federal legislative 8 representative, the office of the attorney general, the county execu- 9 tive, mayor, town supervisor, and in the case of the city of New York, 10 the borough president, and community board for [the] every district in 11 which the [facility] general hospital and unit is or are located, [the12county executive of the county in which the facility is located, and the13state senator and assembly member representing the area within which the14facility is located] of the date, time, and location of the community 15 forum. The general hospital shall afford all public participants a 16 reasonable opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community 17 forum. Prior to any community forum and as soon as practicable, the 18 general hospital shall be required to: 19 (a) notify the office of mental health and the local director of 20 community services in the event such general hospital has psychiatric 21 inpatient beds licensed under article thirty-one of the mental hygiene 22 law or designated pursuant to section 9.39 of the mental hygiene law, 23 and 24 (b) notify the office of addiction services and supports in the event 25 such general hospital has inpatient substance use disorder treatment 26 programs or inpatient chemical dependence treatment programs licensed 27 under article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law. The commissioner 28 shall also accept comments submitted in writing at such public forum and 29 by mail or electronic mail within at least two weeks following the 30 community forum. 31 8. No later than thirty days after the community forum, the general 32 hospital shall submit a revised closure plan to the department address- 33 ing concerns raised by community stakeholders during the community 34 forum. The general hospital and the department shall make the revised 35 closure plan publicly available on their websites no later than forty- 36 five days after the community forum. 37 9. No later than January first two thousand twenty-five and annually 38 thereafter, the commissioner shall provide a report to the legislature, 39 including but not limited to, identifying the general hospital or unit 40 of a general hospital that has provided written notice of a closure, the 41 proposed closure date and the services impacted by the proposed closure. 42 Such report shall be provided in electronic format and shall be distrib- 43 uted to the temporary president and minority leader of the senate, the 44 speaker and minority leader of the assembly, the chair of the senate 45 standing committee on health, and the chair of the assembly health 46 committee. 47 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 48 have become a law, and shall not apply to any matter subject to section 49 2801-g of the public health law that is pending on the date it shall 50 take effect.
