Requires the health department to submit a plan to establish regional step-down facilities to temporarily care for individuals who have been discharged from a hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19, or any other sickness related to a pandemic, to a nursing home, adult care facility or assisted living residence where such individual resides until it is safe for them to return.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8996
IN SENATE
September 23, 2020
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Introduced by Sen. SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the emergency or
disaster treatment preparedness act
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 article
2 30-E to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 30-E
4 EMERGENCY OR DISASTER TREATMENT PREPAREDNESS ACT
5 Section 3090. Declaration of purpose.
6 3091. Definitions.
7 3092. Regional Step-Down Facility Plan.
8 § 3090. Declaration of purpose. Given the devastating toll COVID-19
9 has taken on New York state, especially in nursing homes, assisted
10 living facilities, and adult care facilities, and concerns about a
11 second wave of the virus, or of future pandemics, it is essential that
12 the state is better prepared to handle a future crisis. It is the
13 purpose of this article to ensure precautions are taken to prevent the
14 repeated mistake of returning COVID-19 positive patients to nursing
15 homes, assisted living facilities and adult care facilities where the
16 population is comprised of high-risk individuals.
17 § 3091. Definitions. As used in this article:
18 1. The term "hospital" shall have the same meaning as such term is
19 defined in subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred one of this
20 chapter and shall include any temporary health care facility established
21 by the state or federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
22 or any other pandemic related response.
23 2. The term "nursing home" shall have the same meaning as such term is
24 defined in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred one of this
25 chapter.
26 3. The term "adult care facility" shall have the same meaning as such
27 term is defined in subdivision twenty-one of section two of the social
28 services law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17342-01-0
S. 8996 2
1 4. The term "assisted living residence" shall have the same meaning as
2 such term is defined in subdivision one of section forty-six hundred
3 fifty-one of article forty-six-b of this chapter.
4 5. The term "step-down facility" shall mean a facility specifically
5 established to temporarily care for individuals who have been discharged
6 from a hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19, or any other
7 sickness related to a pandemic, to a nursing home, adult care facility
8 or assisted living residence where such individual resides until it is
9 safe for them to return, for the purpose of preventing the spread of
10 COVID-19 or any other sickness related to a pandemic. Step-down facili-
11 ties may also admit individuals from a nursing home, adult care facility
12 or assisted living residence who have tested positive for COVID-19, or
13 any other sickness related to a pandemic, or are suspected to be posi-
14 tive for such, who did not receive treatment or who were otherwise not
15 admitted and subsequently discharged from a hospital.
16 § 3092. Regional Step-Down Facility Plan. 1. The department, in
17 consultation with organizations representing hospitals, nursing homes,
18 adult care facilities and assisted living residences, shall develop a
19 plan to establish regional step-down facilities to reduce the risk of
20 transmission of COVID-19 or any other sickness related to a pandemic
21 within nursing homes, adult care facilities or assisted living resi-
22 dences, particularly after an individual who has received treatment for
23 COVID-19 or any other sickness related to a pandemic has been discharged
24 from a hospital and would otherwise return to a nursing home, adult care
25 facility or assisted living residence while still contagious. Such plan
26 will account for a possible resurgence of the COVID-19 infection rate,
27 or the emergence of any other sickness related to a pandemic.
28 2. The commissioner shall submit such plan to the governor, the tempo-
29 rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority
30 leader of the senate, and the minority leader of the assembly, and shall
31 post such plan publicly on the department's website no later than Octo-
32 ber fifteenth, two thousand twenty.
33 3. The commissioner shall review and update the regional step-down
34 facility plan biennially, or more frequently if the commissioner deter-
35 mines it necessary, and shall post such updated plan publicly on the
36 department's website no later than October fifteenth of such year.
37 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.