STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8843
IN SENATE
March 20, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, KAVANAGH, GONZALEZ, MYRIE, HINCHEY, WEBB,
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 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.
17 2. A general hospital that seeks to close entirely or close one or
18 more units shall submit an application that requires review and approval
19 by the public health and health planning council, or any successor enti-
20 ty. The application for the closure shall include a health equity impact
21 assessment, as defined by section twenty-eight hundred two-b of this
22 article, and a proposed closure plan. The application shall be submitted
23 at least two hundred ten days before the proposed closure. No cessation,
24 pause, transfer, or limitation of service may be carried out without
25 prior written approval by the commissioner. As used in this section,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14019-09-4
S. 8843 2
1 "transfer of services" shall include conversion of services from inpa-
2 tient to outpatient services, the moving of services to other facili-
3 ties, or the transfer of personnel that would constitute a reduction or
4 unavailability of services.
5 3. No later than [thirty] one hundred fifty days [after] prior to the
6 proposed closure of a general hospital or a unit of a general hospital,
7 the commissioner shall hold a public community forum for the purpose of
8 obtaining public input concerning the anticipated impact of the general
9 hospital's or general hospital unit's closure on access to health care
10 services by members of the surrounding community, including but not
11 limited to recipients of medical assistance for needy persons, the unin-
12 sured, and medically underserved populations as defined in paragraph (d)
13 of subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred two-b of this
14 article, and options and proposals to ameliorate such anticipated
15 impact. The commissioner shall afford community members, health care
16 providers, labor unions, payers, businesses and consumers a reasonable
17 opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community forum.
18 [2.] 4. No later than [sixty] thirty days [after] before holding a
19 community forum pursuant to subdivision [one] three of this section, the
20 commissioner shall make available to the public on the department's
21 website information regarding:
22 (a) the proposed closure plan submitted by the health facility;
23 (b) the anticipated impact of the general hospital's closure or unit's
24 closure on access to health care services by members of the surrounding
25 community, including but not limited to recipients of medical assistance
26 for needy persons, the uninsured, and underserved populations;
27 [(b)] (c) specific measures the department and other parties have
28 taken or will take to ameliorate such anticipated impact including but
29 not limited to ensuring that the services to be eliminated would be
30 available to Medicaid, or individuals that are insured by a publicly-
31 subsidized plan and uninsured patients at the surrounding area facili-
32 ties that are taking new patients; and
33 [(c)] (d) any further recommendations regarding access to health care
34 services in communities impacted by the general hospital's closure or
35 unit's closure.
36 [3.] 5. A community forum conducted pursuant to this section shall be
37 held at a location within a reasonable proximity to the general hospital
38 or unit subject to the proposed closure, and shall be announced no less
39 than [ten] fourteen days prior to the date of such community forum. Such
40 forum shall be held at a proper time and be accessible to the impacted
41 community virtually and physically.
42 [4.] 6. At least thirty days prior to a general hospital applying to
43 the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services to convert from a
44 general hospital with inpatients to a rural emergency hospital under 42
45 USC 1395x(kkk), or successor provisions, such general hospital shall
46 hold a public community forum for the purpose of obtaining public input
47 concerning the anticipated impact of the general hospital's closure of
48 inpatient units, including but not limited to, the impact on recipients
49 of medical assistance for needy persons, the uninsured, people with
50 disabilities, and medically underserved populations, and options and
51 proposals to ameliorate such anticipated impact.
52 [The] 7. No later than thirty days prior to a community forum under
53 this section, the general hospital shall notify health care providers,
54 labor unions, the [congressional] local, state, and federal legislative
55 representative, the office of the attorney general, the county execu-
56 tive, mayor, town supervisor, and in the case of the city of New York,
S. 8843 3
1 the borough president, and community board for [the] every district in
2 which the [facility] general hospital and unit is or are located, [the
3 county executive of the county in which the facility is located, and the
4 state senator and assembly member representing the area within which the
5 facility is located] of the date, time, and location of the community
6 forum. The general hospital shall afford all public participants a
7 reasonable opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community
8 forum. Prior to any community forum and as soon as practicable, the
9 general hospital shall be required to:
10 (a) notify the office of mental health and the local director of
11 community services in the event such general hospital has psychiatric
12 inpatient beds licensed under article thirty-one of the mental hygiene
13 law or designated pursuant to section 9.39 of the mental hygiene law,
14 and
15 (b) notify the office of addiction services and supports in the event
16 such general hospital has inpatient substance use disorder treatment
17 programs or inpatient chemical dependence treatment programs licensed
18 under article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law. The commissioner
19 shall also accept comments submitted in writing at such public forum and
20 by mail or electronic mail within at least two weeks following the
21 community forum.
22 8. No later than thirty days after the community forum, the general
23 hospital shall submit a revised closure plan to the department address-
24 ing concerns raised by community stakeholders during the community
25 forum. The general hospital and the department shall make the revised
26 closure plan publicly available on their websites no later than forty-
27 five days after the community forum.
28 9. No later than January first two thousand twenty-five and annually
29 thereafter, the commissioner shall provide a report to the legislature,
30 including but not limited to, identifying the general hospital or unit
31 of a general hospital that has provided written notice of a closure, the
32 proposed closure date and the services impacted by the proposed closure.
33 Such report shall be provided in electronic format and shall be distrib-
34 uted to the temporary president and minority leader of the senate, the
35 speaker and minority leader of the assembly, the chair of the senate
36 standing committee on health, and the chair of the assembly health
37 committee.
38 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
39 have become a law, and shall not apply to any matter subject to section
40 2801-g of the public health law that is pending on the date it shall
41 take effect.