Bill Text: NH HB1439 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to health care facility visitation policies.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 10-1)
Status: (Passed) 2022-07-07 - Signed by Governor Sununu 07/01/2022; Chapter 304; 07/01/2022 House Journal 14 [HB1439 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2022-HB1439-Introduced.html
HB 1439 - AS INTRODUCED
2022 SESSION
22-2492
05/11
HOUSE BILL 1439
AN ACT relative to hospital visitation policies.
SPONSORS: Rep. Rice, Hills. 37; Rep. Layon, Rock. 6; Rep. Aron, Sull. 7; Rep. Notter, Hills. 21; Rep. Roy, Rock. 32; Rep. Harvey-Bolia, Belk. 4; Rep. Shaw, Hills. 16; Rep. Abbas, Rock. 8; Rep. Greene, Hills. 37; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows, with limited exception, a patient to designate a parent, spouse, family member, or other caregiver to be present while the patient receives hospital care.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
22-2492
05/11
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT relative to hospital visitation policies.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Title. Section 2 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the "No Patient Left Alone Act".
2 New Section; Residential Care and Health Facility Licensing; Presence of Parent, Spouse, or Caregiver Permitted. Amend RSA 151 by inserting after section 2-i the following new section:
151:2-j Visitation Policies; Presence of Parent, Spouse, or Caregiver Permitted.
I. Subject to paragraphs III and IV, each minor who is admitted to a health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 has the right to have a parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis who shall have the ability to be physically present while the minor patient is receiving hospital care.
II. Subject to paragraphs III and IV, each adult who is admitted to a health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 has the right to designate a spouse, family member, or caregiver who shall have the ability to be physically present while the adult patient is receiving hospital care.
III. A health care facility may establish visitation policies that limit or restrict visitation when:
(a) The presence of visitors would be medically or therapeutically contraindicated in the best clinical judgment of health care professionals;
(b) The presence of visitors would interfere with the care of or rights of any patient;
(c) Visitors are engaging in disruptive, threatening or violent behavior toward any staff member, patient or other visitor; or
(d) Visitors are noncompliant with hospital policy.
IV. A health care facility may require visitors to wear personal protective equipment, provided that any such required equipment shall be provided by the health care facility. A health care facility may require visitors to comply with reasonable safety protocols and rules of conduct. The health care facility may revoke visitation rights for failure to comply with this section.
V. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health care facility to allow a visitor to enter an operating room, isolation room, isolation unit, behavioral health setting or other typically restricted area or to remain present during the administration of emergency care in critical situations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health care facility to allow a visitor access beyond the rooms, units or wards in which the patient the visitor is visiting is receiving care or beyond general common areas in the health care facility.
VI. The rights specified in this section shall not be terminated, suspended, or waived by the health care facility, the department of health and human services or any governmental entity, notwithstanding declarations of emergency declared by the governor or the legislature. No health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 shall require a patient to waive the rights specified in this section.
VII. Each health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 shall post on its website informational materials developed by the department of health and human services explaining the rights specified in this section. The department shall develop such informational materials and make the materials available to health care facility for this purpose.
VIII. Unless expressly required by federal law or regulation, the department or any other state agency shall not take any action against a health care facility for:
(a) Giving a visitor individual access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility;
(b) Failing to protect or otherwise ensure the safety or comfort of a visitor given access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility;
(c) Failing to follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other federal guidelines that require or recommend restricting visitor access; or
(d) The acts or omissions of any visitor who is given access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
