A00203 Summary:
BILL NO | A00203A |
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SAME AS | SAME AS S05294-A |
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SPONSOR | Cruz |
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COSPNSR | Dinowitz, Seawright, Hevesi, Kassay, Kelles, Colton, Epstein, Davila, Santabarbara, Hawley, Meeks, Zaccaro, Raga |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Add §2832, Pub Health L | |
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Requires hospitals to establish a violence prevention program which includes a workplace safety and security assessment and develop a safety and security plan that addresses identified workplace violence threats or hazards. |
A00203 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A203A SPONSOR: Cruz
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospi- tals to develop a violence prevention program   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To require hospitals and nursing homes to establish a violence prevention protection program including the establishment of security personnel in hospital emergency departments to protect from violence and verbal and physical abuse of doctors, nurses and staff who provide crit- ical medical care in such emergency departments.   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill requires hospitals to establish a violence prevention program to require: *each hospital shall create such program consistent with the workplace violence standards approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and standards established by the Joint Commission on Health Care Organizations; *general hospitals located in a city or county with a population of one million or more shall be required to have at least one-off duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel be present at all times in the emergency department with consideration of emergent circum- stance in any hospital; and *General hospitals located in a city or county with a population less than one million shall be required to have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all times in a manner that prioritizes physical presence near, or within close proximity to, the emergency department of such hospital with direct responsibility to the emergency department. This shall not apply to hospitals designated as a critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. However, if any such hospital experiences increased rates of violence, as determined by the commis- sioner of health, or abuse of emergency department personnel evidenced by internal reporting pursuant to the violence prevention program or reports to law enforcement the commissioner shall work with the critical access hospital, sole community hospital, or rural emergency hospital to come into compliance with the requirement, to have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all times in a manner that prioritizes physical presence near, or within close proximity to, the emergency department of such hospital with direct responsibility to the emergency department, over a reasonable period of time.   JUSTIFICATION: Physicians, Nurses, and other healthcare employees are exposed on a daily basis to the potential of assault or other violent situations in the course of their duties. Assault on the job is one of the most frequent causes of serious inju- ries in the healthcare industry, and violence is a more common cause of injury than in other industries. U.S. healthcare workers suffer thou- sands of workplace violence-related injuries every year that require time away from work for treatment and recovery (i.e., serious injuries). In a 2022 American College of Emergency Physicians survey of E.R. doctors, 55 percent said they had been physically assaulted, almost all by patients, with a third of those resulting in injuries. 85 percent had been seriously threatened by patients. The risks can be even higher for E.R. nurses, with over 70 percent reporting they had sustained physical assaults at work. The 2022 American College of Emergency Physicians survey further found that the incidences of workplace violence in emergency departments contributed to staff shortages due to staff injury, emotional trauma, and anxiety, As well as increased wait times for patients and delay of critical medical care.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A.4848 of 2020   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect two hundred and seventy days after it shall have become a law.