Bill Text: NY S03058 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes requirements for the transfer, discharge and voluntary discharge from residential health care facilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-03-19 - APPROVAL MEMO.2 [S03058 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S03058-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3058

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 27, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. RIVERA, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public  health  law,  in  relation  to  establishing
          requirements  for the transfer, discharge and voluntary discharge from
          residential health care facilities

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
     2  2803-z to read as follows:
     3    § 2803-z. Transfer, discharge and voluntary discharge requirements for
     4  residential health care facilities.  1. (a) No residential  health  care
     5  facility  shall transfer or discharge a resident unless such transfer or
     6  discharge is necessary for the resident's health,  safety,  or  welfare,
     7  such  transfer or discharge is necessary to preserve the health, safety,
     8  or welfare of other residents, the facility  discontinues  operation  or
     9  the  resident  has  failed to pay or make arrangements for payment for a
    10  stay at the facility, unless stated otherwise by this section.
    11    (b) Prior to a facility initiating a transfer or discharge of a  resi-
    12  dent, the facility shall use its best efforts, including compliance with
    13  applicable  federal  and state regulations, to secure appropriate place-
    14  ment or a residential arrangement for the resident, other than temporary
    15  housing assistance. For purposes of  this  section,  "temporary  housing
    16  assistance"  shall  include  but  not  be limited to a family shelter, a
    17  shelter for adults, a hotel, an emergency apartment, a domestic violence
    18  shelter, or a safe house for refugees. No residential health care facil-
    19  ity shall initiate a transfer or discharge of a resident to the home  of
    20  another  individual  without the written consent of the resident and the
    21  other individual and the other individual has received and  acknowledged
    22  the comprehensive discharge plan to address the resident's needs.
    23    (c)  At  least  thirty  days prior to a facility-initiated transfer or
    24  discharge, the residential health care facility  shall  provide  written

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01778-01-1
        S. 3058                             2

     1  notification  of  the  transfer  or discharge to the resident, the resi-
     2  dent's lawful representative, if any, a family member of  the  resident,
     3  if  known,  and  the  long-term care ombudsman under section two hundred
     4  eighteen  of  the elder law. The notification shall be in a language and
     5  manner that is understandable to the resident and shall state the  basis
     6  for the transfer or discharge, which shall be recorded in the resident's
     7  clinical record.
     8    (d)  A  resident  may  be transferred or discharged if the facility is
     9  unable to meet the needs of the resident. In that case,  the  resident's
    10  clinical  record  shall  document  (i)  the  specific need or needs that
    11  cannot be met, (ii) the  facility's  attempts  to  meet  the  resident's
    12  needs, and (iii) the services available at the receiving facility.
    13    (e)  When  a  resident  is being transferred or discharged because the
    14  resident cannot be cared for safely, or is a  danger  to  others,  prior
    15  notice  may  be  provided less than thirty days prior to the transfer or
    16  discharge but shall be provided as soon as practicable prior to transfer
    17  or discharge. The facility shall document  in  the  resident's  clinical
    18  record  the  risks  to  the  resident  or others if the resident were to
    19  remain in the facility.
    20    (f) A residential health care facility may  transfer  or  discharge  a
    21  resident  because  the  resident  does  not need residential health care
    22  facility services.
    23    2. Where the resident's transfer or  discharge  is  initiated  by  the
    24  resident  and  the  clinical record notes that a family member or desig-
    25  nated representative has requested notification, and  such  notification
    26  is  otherwise  lawful, the residential health care facility shall notify
    27  the family member or designated representative of the resident's  volun-
    28  tary  transfer  or  discharge  as soon as practicable after the resident
    29  initiates the voluntary transfer or discharge process and  in  no  event
    30  more than forty-eight hours thereafter. The notice shall not be provided
    31  if  the  resident specifically requests that the family member or desig-
    32  nated representative not be notified.
    33    3. A residential health care facility shall not compel or  attempt  to
    34  compel  an  individual  to  voluntarily  transfer  or discharge from the
    35  facility.
    36    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 2803-c  of  the  public  health  law  is
    37  amended by adding a new paragraph r to read as follows:
    38    r.  Every  patient  shall  have the right to remain in care unless the
    39  patient is appropriately discharged or transferred  in  accordance  with
    40  section  two  thousand eight hundred three-z of this article and a resi-
    41  dential health care facility shall not attempt to  compel  or  retaliate
    42  against an individual that chooses to remain in care.
    43    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.