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SB-758 Hospitals: seismic safety.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 08/21/2020 11:15 AM
SB758:v94#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  August 24, 2020
Amended  IN  Assembly  August 06, 2020
Amended  IN  Assembly  July 27, 2020
Amended  IN  Assembly  September 13, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  March 27, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 758

Introduced by Senator Portantino

February 22, 2019

An act to amend Section 130065 of, and to add Section 130065.1 to, and to add and repeal Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 1274.5) of Chapter 2 of Division 2 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to health and care facilities.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 758, as amended, Portantino. Health and care facilities: disaster and seismic preparedness. Hospitals: seismic safety.

(1)Existing law generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license, regulate, and inspect health facilities, defined to include, among other facilities, a general acute care hospital and acute psychiatric hospital. Existing law requires health facilities to be prepared for emergencies, including earthquakes, fires, and floods, as specified.

This bill would enact the Health Care Delivery System Preparedness Act and require the department to appoint the members and convene a meeting of the Health Care Delivery System Preparedness Advisory Committee on or before January 1, 2021. The bill would specify the membership of the advisory committee is no fewer than 12 and no more than 13 members who are experienced in health care, public health, and emergency preparedness, among other qualifications. The bill would require the State Public Health Officer to offer the County Health Executives Association of California to provide a representative of its association to serve as a member. The bill would require the department, on or before November 1, 2022, to submit a report to the Legislature based on the recommendations of the advisory committee regarding health care delivery system preparedness in the event of a disaster that includes the advisory committee’s recommendations relating to, among other things, an alternative to the requirement for hospitals to be in compliance with a specified provision of the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2024.

(2)The

The Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973. A violation of any provision of the act is a misdemeanor. The act requires an owner of a general acute care inpatient hospital, no later than January 1, 2030, to either demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings not in substantial compliance with the standards established pursuant to the act or seismically retrofit all acute care inpatient hospital buildings so that they are in substantial compliance with those standards.
This bill would extend the deadline to January 1, 2037, 2032, and require the office to revise its regulations to reflect the revision of the deadline as emergency regulations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 1274.5) is added to Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
2.7.Health Care Delivery System Preparedness Act
1274.5.

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Health Care Delivery System Preparedness Act.

1274.6.

(a)On or before January 1, 2021, the State Department of Public Health shall convene a Health Care Delivery System Preparedness Advisory Committee to make recommendations on strengthening the response of the health care delivery system in the event of a disaster, including, but not limited to, an earthquake, fire, or pandemic.

(b)The department shall convene the advisory committee in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, Emergency Medical Services Authority, and Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

1274.7.

(a)The State Public Health Officer shall appoint the membership of the advisory committee. The advisory committee shall consist of no fewer than 12 and no more than 13 individuals. The advisory committee shall be composed of individuals who are experienced in health care, public health, and emergency preparedness, and shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1)One representative of an association representing county health organizations.

(2)Two representatives of an association representing multiple types of hospitals and health systems, one of which shall represent rural, or critical access hospitals.

(3)A representative of an association representing skilled nursing facilities.

(4)One representative of an association representing physicians.

(5)Three representatives of organized labor, two of which shall represent health care workers.

(6)One representative of consumers.

(7)A representative of an organization representing older adults and people with disabilities.

(8)A representative of an association representing Long-Term Care Ombudsmen.

(9)A representative of an organization representing local emergency medical service providers.

(b)The State Public Health Officer shall offer the County Health Executives Association of California to provide a representative of its association to serve as the member described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

1274.8.

(a)On or before November 1, 2022, the department shall submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, based on the recommendations of the advisory committee regarding health care delivery system preparedness in the event of a disaster, including, but not limited to, an earthquake, fire, or pandemic. The report shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations relating to all of the following:

(1)The current and future availability of telehealth, including its impact on the need for physical space for health care providers.

(2)Projected capital costs for health care facilities by provider type.

(3)Possible alternatives to the requirement for hospitals to be fully operational following an earthquake pursuant to Section 130065, if an alternative is deemed feasible. The task force shall study possible alternatives based on factors including, but not limited to, the seismic risk to a facility based on the region of the state in which the facility is located, and the risk of collapse to the facility based on the construction method of the facility.

(4)Development, updating, and implementation of health care facility emergency operations and surge plans.

(5)Consumer access to care.

(6)Impact of various disaster preparedness strategies on health care workforce employment.

(7)Impact of various disaster preparedness strategies on patient and worker safety.

(8)How to ensure the safety and meet the needs of people with access and functional needs during a disaster as discussed in the 2019 State Auditor Report, “California Is Not Adequately Prepared to Protect Its Most Vulnerable Residents From Natural Disaster.”

(9)Funding sources for implementing the recommendations, including public health infrastructure and emergency response.

(10)Improving state and county regional emergency preparedness plans within available resources and capacity.

(11)Considerations for rural communities.

(12)Resource coordination between the state stockpile of supplies for public health emergencies and medical health operational area coordinators with the health care delivery system.

(13)Transportation of patients by local emergency medical services agencies, including transportation to alternative care sites.

(14)State and local health officer coordination of public health guidance.

(15)Infection control policies of health care facilities.

(16)Training and exercises on emergency preparedness policies and procedures by health care facility and volunteers.

(17)Health care facility policies and procedures for safely evacuating patients, including transportation, methods of tracking patients, and transporting necessary medications, supplies, and medical records with an evacuated patient.

(b)The advisory committee shall ensure that all recommendations are in compliance with state and federal disaster preparedness requirements.

1274.9.

This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2024, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.SECTION 1.

 Section 130065 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

130065.
 (a) In accordance with the compliance schedule approved by the office, but in any case no later than January 1, 2037, 2032, owners of all acute care inpatient hospitals shall either:

(a)

(1) Demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings not in substantial compliance with the regulations and standards developed by the office pursuant to the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act and this act.

(b)

(2) Seismically retrofit all acute care inpatient hospital buildings so that they are in substantial compliance with the regulations and standards developed by the office pursuant to the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act and this act.

Upon

(b) Upon compliance with this section, the hospital shall be issued a written notice of compliance by the office. The office shall send a written notice of violation to hospital owners that fail to comply with this section.

SEC. 3.SEC. 2.

 Section 130065.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

130065.1.
 On or before July 1, 2021, the office shall revise its regulations to reflect the revision of the deadline to meet the requirements in Section 130065. Regulatory submissions made by the office to the California Building Standards Commission to implement this section shall be deemed to be emergency regulations and shall be adopted as emergency regulations.