Bill Text: NY S01907 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to requiring hospitals to establish a violence prevention program and conduct an annual safety and security assessment for the purpose of protecting health care workers, patients, families and visitors.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S01907 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S01907-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1907
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 17, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  FUNKE  -- 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  requiring  hospi-
          tals to conduct an annual safety and security assessment and develop a
          violence prevention program
          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  2827 to read as follows:
     3    §  2827.  Violence  prevention  program.  1.  Within six months of the
     4  effective date  of  this  section,  every  hospital  shall  establish  a
     5  violence  prevention  program  for the purpose of protecting health care
     6  workers, patients, families and visitors. The program shall, at a  mini-
     7  mum, include the requirements set forth in this section.
     8    2.  Beginning  January first, two thousand twenty, all hospitals shall
     9  conduct, not less than annually, a safety and  security  assessment  and
    10  develop  a  safety  and  security  plan. As part of the plan, a hospital
    11  shall adopt security  policies  including  personnel  training  policies
    12  designed to protect personnel, patients, and visitors from aggressive or
    13  violent  behavior. The assessment shall consider limiting and regulating
    14  visitor access through a secure primary  entrance,  implementing  strong
    15  visitor  management  programs through the use of visitor screening tech-
    16  nologies that incorporate the issuance of temporary identification badg-
    17  es to all visitors entering  the  hospital.  In  conducting  the  annual
    18  assessment  and  developing  the  plan,  the hospital shall consult with
    19  affected employees, including the recognized collective bargaining agent
    20  or agents, if any, and members of the hospital  medical  staff  and  may
    21  occur  through  established  hospital safety and security committees and
    22  existing labor management  committees.  Persons  regularly  assigned  to
    23  provide  security  in  a  hospital  setting  shall be adequately trained
    24  regarding the role of security in  hospital  operations,  including  the
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07316-01-9
        S. 1907                             2
     1  identification  of aggressive and violent predicting factors and manage-
     2  ment of violent disturbances.
     3    3. The annual safety and security assessment shall include, but not be
     4  limited to, security considerations relating to all of the following:
     5    (a) the facility's layout, access restrictions and physical and struc-
     6  tural  layout  concerns  that  could  lead  to endangering the safety of
     7  patients and hospital personnel;
     8    (b) the impact of sufficient staffing, including security personnel to
     9  deliver security;
    10    (c) adequate policy and training to respond to violent acts;
    11    (d) the crime rate in surrounding  areas,  lighting,  and  efforts  to
    12  cooperate  with  local  law  enforcement  regarding  violent acts in the
    13  facility;
    14    (e) protective measures, including communication,  alarms  and  access
    15  control;
    16    (f)  the  handling  and identification of disturbed patients, visitors
    17  and employees;
    18    (g) the handling of threats and the presence of  individuals  who  may
    19  pose a risk of violence;
    20    (h) hospital safety and emergency preparedness;
    21    (i)  mechanisms  for ensuring appropriate safety and security communi-
    22  cation and information sharing between staff; and
    23    (j) safety protocols to meet the  needs  of  individuals  with  mental
    24  illness, violence prevention and de-escalation safeguards.
    25    4.  The safety and security plan shall specify methods to reduce iden-
    26  tified risks,  including  training,  increased  staffing  and  security,
    27  equipment  and  facility  modifications.  Every  hospital shall make the
    28  safety and security plan and other aspects of  the  violence  prevention
    29  program  available,  upon  request,  to  its employees, their designated
    30  representatives and to the department.
    31    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.