STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8907--A IN SENATE March 26, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sens. GONZALEZ, BAILEY, BRISPORT, GOUNARDES, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, KRUEGER, SALAZAR, SKOUFIS, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to direct the department of health complete a report on the impact of hospital closures on healthcare access in New York state The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds: 2 1. The serious public emergency regarding hospital closures across New 3 York state continues to exist, and this emergency puts individuals at a 4 heightened risk of death, illness, and economic hardship. These closures 5 impact both public and private general hospitals or healthcare facili- 6 ties owned by one or more hospital networks, full-service hospitals, and 7 critical care units. 8 2. The legislature finds and declares that in order to prevent death, 9 hardship, and other negative health outcomes to New York state resi- 10 dents, the provisions of this act are necessary to protect public 11 health, safety, and general welfare. The following provisions are 12 designed to strengthen the already established department of health's 13 ongoing reporting efforts and ensure that the findings are presented 14 clearly and are accessible to the general public and the legislature. 15 The necessity in the public interest is hereby declared as a matter of 16 legislative determination. 17 § 2. 1. The department of health shall produce a report that examines 18 the aggregate impact of the closure of general hospitals and hospital 19 networks on healthcare access in this state. In producing such report 20 the department of health shall meaningfully engage public health 21 experts, labor representatives of the hospital workforce, community 22 leaders and residents of New York state. 23 (a) The report shall include statewide data on, including but not 24 limited to: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15041-07-4S. 8907--A 2 1 (i) the number of hospitals and hospital networks in each county or, 2 where relevant, zip code; 3 (ii) the average number of total and available hospital beds in each 4 county or, where relevant, zip code; 5 (iii) the number of acute care hospital beds per one thousand resi- 6 dents by county or, where relevant, zip code; 7 (iv) the number of medicare and Medicaid recipients, and the percent- 8 age of insured and uninsured patients served, by county or, where rele- 9 vant, zip code; 10 (v) projected market shares of all hospitals and hospital networks in 11 New York state; 12 (vi) the financial condition of the hospitals and hospital networks 13 that have submitted a proposal to close to the department of health 14 within the past year, which shall include, but not be limited to: 15 (1) the financial viability of the services and units hospitals are 16 proposing to terminate, transfer and merge; and 17 (2) the financial impact hospitals and hospital networks will have if 18 they continue to operate without closing or reducing or transferring 19 services; 20 (vii) the travel times between hospitals that provide similar 21 services, which shall include, but not be limited to, travel times for 22 public transportation options; 23 (viii) the number and location of hospitals that have closed or 24 reduced services in the previous five years, including but not limited 25 to unit closures or reductions in patient capacity; and 26 (ix) regions where additional hospitals are currently needed based on 27 public needs; 28 (x) the race, sex, gender, age, economic status, and disability status 29 of patients served by each hospital and hospital network in the previous 30 five years; 31 (xi) the payor mix of the patients served by each hospital for the 32 previous five years, including but not limited to the number of medicare 33 and Medicaid recipients, and the percentage of insured and uninsured 34 patients served; 35 (xii) the number of staff currently employed at each hospital and 36 hospital network, including but not limited to an itemized listing, by 37 profession, of healthcare workers, as well as administrative and support 38 workers; 39 (xiii) access to each hospital and hospital network by public or 40 private transportation, including transportation sponsored by the hospi- 41 tal and hospital network itself; 42 (xiv) the nature and scope of healthcare services currently provided 43 in each hospital and hospital network; and 44 (xv) the change in service volume in each hospital and hospital 45 network for the previous five years, which shall include, but not be 46 limited to: 47 (1) a thirty day average daily census of inpatient beds; and 48 (2) a thirty day average wait time to be admitted from the emergency 49 room. 50 (b) If the department of health does not have access to the data list- 51 ed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the department shall collect 52 such data or provide an explanation why it is unable to collect such 53 data. 54 (c) The department of health shall produce a report on the findings of 55 such study no later than April 1, 2025. Such report shall be provided in 56 electronic format and shall be distributed to the temporary president ofS. 8907--A 3 1 the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chair of the senate stand- 2 ing committee on health, and the chair of the assembly health committee. 3 The department of health shall publicly post the report on the depart- 4 ment of health's website within one week of the distribution. 5 2. The report shall use the data collected to define and identify 6 areas at risk of future hospital closures. These areas shall be desig- 7 nated "distressed healthcare zones". 8 3. The department of health shall issue successive reports containing 9 the information in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section 10 every three years after the initial report. Each successive report shall 11 update designations of distressed healthcare zones as the report 12 mandates. Distressed healthcare zones shall be prioritized when allocat- 13 ing healthcare spending and when issuing a certificate of need. Such 14 findings shall be drafted in clear and concise language readily compre- 15 hensible for members of the public in general. 16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. The commissioner of 17 health and the public health and health planning council shall make 18 regulations and take other actions reasonably necessary to implement 19 this act.