(410 ILCS 70/5.4)

Sec. 5.4. Out-of-state hospitals.

(a) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the transfer of a patient in need of medical services from a hospital that has been designated as a trauma center by the Department in accordance with Section 3.90 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.

(b) A transfer hospital, treatment hospital with approved pediatric transfer, or approved pediatric health care facility may transfer a sexual assault survivor to an out-of-state hospital that is located in a county that borders Illinois if the out-of-state hospital: (1) submits an areawide treatment plan approved by the Department; and (2) has certified the following to the Department in a form and manner prescribed by the Department that the out-of-state hospital will:

(i) consent to the jurisdiction of the Department in accordance with Section 2.06 of this Act;

(ii) comply with all requirements of this Act applicable to treatment hospitals, including, but not limited to, offering evidence collection to any Illinois sexual assault survivor who presents with a complaint of sexual assault within a minimum of the last 7 days or who has disclosed past sexual assault by a specific individual and was in the care of that individual within a minimum of the last 7 days and not billing the sexual assault survivor for medical forensic services or 180 days of follow-up healthcare;

(iii) use an Illinois State Police Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit to collect forensic evidence from an Illinois sexual assault survivor;

(iv) ensure its staff cooperates with Illinois law enforcement agencies and are responsive to subpoenas issued by Illinois courts; and

(v) provide appropriate transportation upon the completion of medical forensic services back to the transfer hospital or treatment hospital with pediatric transfer where the sexual assault survivor initially presented seeking medical forensic services, unless the sexual assault survivor chooses to arrange his or her own transportation.

(c) Subsection (b) of this Section is inoperative on and after January 1, 2029.

(Source: P.A. 102-1097, eff. 1-1-23; 102-1106, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)