Bill Text: NY A03131 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to establishing requirements for residential health care facilities during a state disaster emergency involving a disease outbreak; requires the department of health to issue guidance regarding precautions and procedures to maintain health and safety; establishes residential healthcare facility reporting requirements.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-12)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-01-05 - ordered to third reading cal.114 [A03131 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A03131-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3131--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 22, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KIM, STECK, HEVESI, EPSTEIN, L. ROSENTHAL, NIOU, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, GLICK, THIELE, GRIFFIN, MONTESANO, JACOBSON, DICK- ENS, McMAHON, SEAWRIGHT, STERN, BARRON, ROZIC, BYRNES, GOTTFRIED, BARNWELL, SOLAGES, NORRIS, McDONOUGH, ZINERMAN, ABINANTI, SANTABAR- BARA, MITAYNES, LUPARDO, JACKSON, DeSTEFANO, LAWLER, HAWLEY, SALKA, BYRNE, ANDERSON, TAGUE, SIMPSON, KELLES, WALLACE, DINOWITZ, FORREST, BLANKENBUSH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing requirements for residential health care facilities during a state disaster emergency involving a disease outbreak The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 2803 of the public health law is amended by adding 2 two new subdivisions 13 and 14 to read as follows: 3 13. In the event of a state disaster emergency as defined under 4 section twenty of the executive law that involves a disease outbreak, 5 the department shall issue guidance to residential health care facili- 6 ties regarding precautions and procedures to take to protect and main- 7 tain the health and safety of residents and staff during the course of 8 an outbreak, and to prevent widespread transmission of a communicable 9 disease. Such guidance shall include but not be limited to: 10 restrictions on visitation and entry into the facility by non-essential 11 personnel, staff education and training on symptoms and transmission, 12 screening of all staff prior to the commencement of a work shift, daily 13 inventory and reporting to the department of personal protective equip- 14 ment and other supplies, hand hygiene and environmental disinfection, 15 mask use and source control, resident education and monitoring, place- 16 ment of residents with confirmed or suspected infections, notification EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03449-04-1A. 3131--A 2 1 to the lawful representatives of affected residents of a confirmed or 2 suspected infection, informing and educating the lawful representative 3 of the availability of alternative placement options, including but not 4 limited to home care services authorized under article thirty-six of 5 this chapter, and making available means of communication for residents 6 to communicate with the lawful representative at least once a day, or 7 otherwise as is practicable. Upon issuance of such guidance, the depart- 8 ment shall disseminate it to all administrators of residential 9 healthcare facilities and publish it on the department's website no less 10 than forty-eight hours after a state disaster emergency has been 11 declared. 12 14. In the event of a state disaster emergency as defined under 13 section twenty of the executive law that involves a disease outbreak, 14 the department may utilize public health emergency appropriations for 15 the purpose of securing alternative placement options, including but not 16 limited to home care services under article thirty-six of this chapter, 17 for residents of residential health care facilities for the duration of 18 the state disaster emergency. 19 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2808-e 20 to read as follows: 21 § 2808-e. Residential health care facility reporting requirements. 1. 22 The commissioner of health shall, in the event of an outbreak of a 23 communicable disease or infection, order all residential health care 24 facilities to report the following information on a daily basis to the 25 department and the local health department in the county in which the 26 facility is based: the number of residents or staff with suspected or 27 confirmed infection of the disease; the number of residents with 28 suspected or confirmed infection resulting in hospitalization or death; 29 and the number of fatalities following hospitalization resulting from 30 suspected or confirmed infection of the disease. The department shall 31 aggregate and publish de-identified data, submitted by residential 32 health care facilities under this section on a weekly basis, in a manner 33 that is consistent with the federal Health Insurance Portability and 34 Accountability Act, as amended, and any regulations promulgated there- 35 under. 36 2. For any residential health care facility that experiences a fatali- 37 ty rate of at least five percent of the resident census as a result of a 38 state disaster emergency that involves a disease outbreak as well as 39 strong indications that the infection rate within the facility is 40 increasing exponentially, or otherwise attributable to a novel pathogen 41 or known pathogen with a high lethality rate, the commissioner shall 42 establish daily communications with such facility to determine and 43 provide, to the extent practicable, all necessary supplies, equipment, 44 personnel and personnel training to ensure the facility is adequately 45 prepared to ensure the health and safety of the residents. If, in the 46 event that the fatality and infection rate remains the same or increases 47 over a fifteen day period from the commissioner's initial contact, due 48 to negligent and willful actions of the established operator, which may 49 include, but not be limited to, a willful failure to comply with proce- 50 dures or utilization of supplies and equipment provided, the commission- 51 er shall appoint a temporary operator, subject to the provisions of 52 section twenty-eight hundred six-a of this article to assume sole 53 control and sole responsibility for the operations of the facility until 54 the residents of the facility (a) may be safely transferred to another 55 residential health care facility or (b) transferred to a community-based 56 setting where home care services are delivered under article thirty-sixA. 3131--A 3 1 of this chapter, provided that, such residents qualifying for medical 2 assistance shall be deemed eligible for immediate need under subdivision 3 twelve of section three hundred sixty-six-a of the social services law. 4 If the commissioner has a reasonable belief of imminent harm to the 5 public, the commissioner may initiate receivership subject to section 6 twenty-eight hundred ten of this article. 7 § 3. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 2806-a of the 8 public health law, as added by section 50 of part E of chapter 56 of the 9 laws of 2013, are amended to read as follows: 10 (b) "established operator" shall mean the operator of an adult care 11 facility, a general hospital [or], a diagnostic and treatment center 12 that has been established and issued an operating certificate as such 13 pursuant to this article, or a residential health care facility for the 14 purposes of section twenty-eight hundred eight-e of this article; 15 (c) "facility" shall mean (i) a general hospital or a diagnostic and 16 treatment center that has been issued an operating certificate as such 17 pursuant to this article; [or] (ii) an adult care facility; or (iii) a 18 residential health care facility for the purposes of section twenty- 19 eight hundred eight-e of this article; 20 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that the 21 amendments made to section 2806-a of the public health law made by 22 section three of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section 23 and shall be deemed repealed therewith.