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1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act | ||||||
5 | is amended by adding Section 32.6 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (210 ILCS 50/32.6 new) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 32.6. Freestanding Emergency Center; patient | ||||||
8 | protection from abuse. | ||||||
9 | (a) No administrator, agent, or employee of an FEC or a | ||||||
10 | member of its medical staff may abuse a patient in the FEC. | ||||||
11 | (b) Any FEC administrator, agent, employee, or medical | ||||||
12 | staff member who has reasonable cause to believe that any | ||||||
13 | patient with whom he or she has direct contact has been | ||||||
14 | subjected to abuse in the FEC shall promptly report or cause a | ||||||
15 | report to be made to a designated FEC administrator responsible | ||||||
16 | for providing such reports to the Department as required by | ||||||
17 | this Section. | ||||||
18 | (c) Retaliation against a person who lawfully and in good | ||||||
19 | faith makes a report under this Section is prohibited. | ||||||
20 | (d) Upon receiving a report under subsection (b) of this | ||||||
21 | Section, the FEC shall submit the report to the Department | ||||||
22 | within 24 hours of obtaining such report. In the event that the | ||||||
23 | FEC receives multiple reports involving a single alleged |
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1 | instance of abuse, the FEC shall submit one report to the | ||||||
2 | Department. | ||||||
3 | (e) Upon receiving a report under this Section, the FEC | ||||||
4 | shall promptly conduct an internal review to ensure the alleged | ||||||
5 | victim's safety. Measures to protect the alleged victim shall | ||||||
6 | be taken as deemed necessary by the FEC's administrator and may | ||||||
7 | include, but are not limited to, removing suspected violators | ||||||
8 | from further patient contact during the FEC's internal review. | ||||||
9 | If the alleged victim lacks decision-making capacity under the | ||||||
10 | Health Care Surrogate Act and no health care surrogate is | ||||||
11 | available, the FEC may contact the Illinois Guardianship and | ||||||
12 | Advocacy Commission to determine the need for a temporary | ||||||
13 | guardian of that person. | ||||||
14 | (f) All internal FEC reviews shall be conducted by a | ||||||
15 | designated FEC employee or agent who is qualified to detect | ||||||
16 | abuse and is not involved in the alleged victim's treatment. | ||||||
17 | All internal review findings must be documented and filed | ||||||
18 | according to FEC procedures and shall be made available to the | ||||||
19 | Department upon request. | ||||||
20 | (g) Any other person may make a report of patient abuse to | ||||||
21 | the Department if that person has reasonable cause to believe | ||||||
22 | that a patient has been abused in the FEC. | ||||||
23 | (h) The report required under this Section shall include: | ||||||
24 | the name of the patient; the name and address of the FEC | ||||||
25 | treating the patient; the age of the patient; the nature of the | ||||||
26 | patient's condition, including any evidence of previous |
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1 | injuries or disabilities; and any other information that the | ||||||
2 | reporter believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of | ||||||
3 | the reported abuse and the identity of the person believed to | ||||||
4 | have caused the abuse. | ||||||
5 | (i) Any individual, person, institution, or agency | ||||||
6 | participating in good faith in the making of a report under | ||||||
7 | this Section, or in the investigation of such a report or in | ||||||
8 | making a disclosure of information concerning reports of abuse | ||||||
9 | under this Section, shall have immunity from any liability, | ||||||
10 | whether civil, professional, or criminal, that otherwise might | ||||||
11 | result by reason of such actions. For the purpose of any | ||||||
12 | proceedings, whether civil, professional, or criminal, the | ||||||
13 | good faith of any persons required to report cases of suspected | ||||||
14 | abuse under this Section or who disclose information concerning | ||||||
15 | reports of abuse in compliance with this Section, shall be | ||||||
16 | presumed. | ||||||
17 | (j) No administrator, agent, or employee of an FEC shall | ||||||
18 | adopt or employ practices or procedures designed to discourage | ||||||
19 | good faith reporting of patient abuse under this Section. | ||||||
20 | (k) Every FEC shall ensure that all new and existing | ||||||
21 | employees are trained in the detection and reporting of abuse | ||||||
22 | of patients and retrained at least every 2 years thereafter. | ||||||
23 | (l) The Department shall investigate each report of patient | ||||||
24 | abuse made under this Section according to the procedures of | ||||||
25 | the Department, except that a report of abuse which indicates | ||||||
26 | that a patient's life or safety is in imminent danger shall be |
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1 | investigated within 24 hours of such report. Under no | ||||||
2 | circumstances may an FEC's internal review of an allegation of | ||||||
3 | abuse replace an investigation of the allegation by the | ||||||
4 | Department. | ||||||
5 | (m) The Department shall keep a continuing record of all | ||||||
6 | reports made pursuant to this Section, including indications of | ||||||
7 | the final determination of any investigation and the final | ||||||
8 | disposition of all reports. The Department shall inform the | ||||||
9 | investigated FEC and any other person making a report under | ||||||
10 | subsection (g) of its final determination or disposition in | ||||||
11 | writing. | ||||||
12 | (n) The Department shall not disclose to the public any | ||||||
13 | information regarding any reports and investigations under | ||||||
14 | this Section unless and until the report of abuse is | ||||||
15 | substantiated following a full and proper investigation. | ||||||
16 | (o) All patient identifiable information in any report or | ||||||
17 | investigation under this Section shall be confidential and | ||||||
18 | shall not be disclosed except as authorized by this Act or | ||||||
19 | other applicable law. | ||||||
20 | (p) Nothing in this Section relieves an FEC administrator, | ||||||
21 | employee, agent, or medical staff member from contacting | ||||||
22 | appropriate law enforcement authorities as required by law. | ||||||
23 | (q) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean that | ||||||
24 | a patient is a victim of abuse because of health care services | ||||||
25 | provided or not provided by health care professionals. | ||||||
26 | (r) Nothing in this Section shall require an FEC, including |
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1 | its employees, agents, and medical staff members, to provide | ||||||
2 | any services to a patient in contravention of his or her stated | ||||||
3 | or implied objection thereto upon grounds that such services | ||||||
4 | conflict with his or her religious beliefs or practices, nor | ||||||
5 | shall such a patient be considered abused under this Section | ||||||
6 | for the exercise of such beliefs or practices. | ||||||
7 | (s) As used in this Section, the following terms have the | ||||||
8 | following meanings: | ||||||
9 | "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual abuse | ||||||
10 | intentionally inflicted by an FEC employee, agent, or medical | ||||||
11 | staff member on a patient of the FEC and does not include any | ||||||
12 | FEC, medical, health care, or other personal care services done | ||||||
13 | in good faith in the interest of the patient according to | ||||||
14 | established medical and clinical standards of care. | ||||||
15 | "FEC" means a Freestanding Emergency Center licensed under | ||||||
16 | Section 32.5. | ||||||
17 | "Mental injury" means intentionally caused emotional | ||||||
18 | distress in a patient from words or gestures that would be | ||||||
19 | considered by a reasonable person to be humiliating, harassing, | ||||||
20 | or threatening and which causes observable and substantial | ||||||
21 | impairment. | ||||||
22 | "Sexual abuse" means any intentional act of sexual contact | ||||||
23 | or sexual penetration of a patient in the hospital. | ||||||
24 | "Substantiated", with respect to a report of abuse, means | ||||||
25 | that a preponderance of the evidence indicates that abuse | ||||||
26 | occurred. |
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1 | (t) Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that | ||||||
2 | may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head | ||||||
3 | under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to | ||||||
4 | make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions | ||||||
5 | of this Section. If, however, the Governor believes that rules | ||||||
6 | are necessary to implement or enforce the provisions of this | ||||||
7 | Section, the Governor may suggest rules to the General Assembly | ||||||
8 | by filing them with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of | ||||||
9 | the Senate and by requesting that the General Assembly | ||||||
10 | authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those suggested rules | ||||||
11 | into law, or take any other appropriate action in the General | ||||||
12 | Assembly's discretion. Nothing in this Section shall be | ||||||
13 | interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other | ||||||
14 | Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise | ||||||
15 | explicitly given. For the purposes of this Section, "rules" is | ||||||
16 | given the meaning contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois | ||||||
17 | Administrative Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" | ||||||
18 | are given the meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of | ||||||
19 | the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that | ||||||
20 | such definitions apply to agencies and agency heads under the | ||||||
21 | jurisdiction of the Governor. | ||||||
22 | Section 10. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by | ||||||
23 | changing Section 9 and by adding Section 9.6 as follows:
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24 | (210 ILCS 85/9) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 150)
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1 | Sec. 9. Inspections and investigations. The Department | ||||||
2 | shall make or
cause
to be made such inspections and
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3 | investigations as it deems necessary , except that the | ||||||
4 | Department shall investigate every allegation of abuse of a | ||||||
5 | patient received by the Department . Information received by the
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6 | Department through filed reports, inspection, or as otherwise | ||||||
7 | authorized
under this Act shall not be disclosed publicly in | ||||||
8 | such manner as to
identify individuals or hospitals, except (i) | ||||||
9 | in a proceeding involving the
denial, suspension, or revocation | ||||||
10 | of a permit to establish a hospital or a
proceeding involving | ||||||
11 | the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license to
open, | ||||||
12 | conduct, operate, and maintain a hospital, (ii) to the | ||||||
13 | Department of
Children and Family Services in the course of a | ||||||
14 | child abuse or neglect
investigation conducted by that | ||||||
15 | Department or by the Department of Public
Health, (iii) in | ||||||
16 | accordance with Section 6.14a of this Act, or (iv)
in other | ||||||
17 | circumstances as may be approved by the Hospital Licensing | ||||||
18 | Board.
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19 | (Source: P.A. 90-608, eff. 6-30-98; 91-242, eff. 1-1-00.)
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20 | (210 ILCS 85/9.6 new) | ||||||
21 | Sec. 9.6. Patient protection from abuse. | ||||||
22 | (a) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital or a | ||||||
23 | member of its medical staff may abuse a patient in the | ||||||
24 | hospital. | ||||||
25 | (b) Any hospital administrator, agent, employee, or |
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1 | medical staff member who has reasonable cause to believe that | ||||||
2 | any patient with whom he or she has direct contact has been | ||||||
3 | subjected to abuse in the hospital shall promptly report or | ||||||
4 | cause a report to be made to a designated hospital | ||||||
5 | administrator responsible for providing such reports to the | ||||||
6 | Department as required by this Section. | ||||||
7 | (c) Retaliation against a person who lawfully and in good | ||||||
8 | faith makes a report under this Section is prohibited. | ||||||
9 | (d) Upon receiving a report under subsection (b) of this | ||||||
10 | Section, the hospital shall submit the report to the Department | ||||||
11 | within 24 hours of obtaining such report. In the event that the | ||||||
12 | hospital receives multiple reports involving a single alleged | ||||||
13 | instance of abuse, the hospital shall submit one report to the | ||||||
14 | Department. | ||||||
15 | (e) Upon receiving a report under this Section, the | ||||||
16 | hospital shall promptly conduct an internal review to ensure | ||||||
17 | the alleged victim's safety. Measures to protect the alleged | ||||||
18 | victim shall be taken as deemed necessary by the hospital's | ||||||
19 | administrator and may include, but are not limited to, removing | ||||||
20 | suspected violators from further patient contact during the | ||||||
21 | hospital's internal review. If the alleged victim lacks | ||||||
22 | decision-making capacity under the Health Care Surrogate Act | ||||||
23 | and no health care surrogate is available, the hospital may | ||||||
24 | contact the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission to | ||||||
25 | determine the need for a temporary guardian of that person. | ||||||
26 | (f) All internal hospital reviews shall be conducted by a |
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1 | designated hospital employee or agent who is qualified to | ||||||
2 | detect abuse and is not involved in the alleged victim's | ||||||
3 | treatment. All internal review findings must be documented and | ||||||
4 | filed according to hospital procedures and shall be made | ||||||
5 | available to the Department upon request. | ||||||
6 | (g) Any other person may make a report of patient abuse to | ||||||
7 | the Department if that person has reasonable cause to believe | ||||||
8 | that a patient has been abused in the hospital. | ||||||
9 | (h) The report required under this Section shall include: | ||||||
10 | the name of the patient; the name and address of the hospital | ||||||
11 | treating the patient; the age of the patient; the nature of the | ||||||
12 | patient's condition, including any evidence of previous | ||||||
13 | injuries or disabilities; and any other information that the | ||||||
14 | reporter believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of | ||||||
15 | the reported abuse and the identity of the person believed to | ||||||
16 | have caused the abuse. | ||||||
17 | (i) Any individual, person, institution, or agency | ||||||
18 | participating in good faith in the making of a report under | ||||||
19 | this Section, or in the investigation of such a report or in | ||||||
20 | making a disclosure of information concerning reports of abuse | ||||||
21 | under this Section, shall have immunity from any liability, | ||||||
22 | whether civil, professional, or criminal, that otherwise might | ||||||
23 | result by reason of such actions. For the purpose of any | ||||||
24 | proceedings, whether civil, professional, or criminal, the | ||||||
25 | good faith of any persons required to report cases of suspected | ||||||
26 | abuse under this Section or who disclose information concerning |
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1 | reports of abuse in compliance with this Section, shall be | ||||||
2 | presumed. | ||||||
3 | (j) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital | ||||||
4 | shall adopt or employ practices or procedures designed to | ||||||
5 | discourage good faith reporting of patient abuse under this | ||||||
6 | Section. | ||||||
7 | (k) Every hospital shall ensure that all new and existing | ||||||
8 | employees are trained in the detection and reporting of abuse | ||||||
9 | of patients and retrained at least every 2 years thereafter. | ||||||
10 | (l) The Department shall investigate each report of patient | ||||||
11 | abuse made under this Section according to the procedures of | ||||||
12 | the Department, except that a report of abuse which indicates | ||||||
13 | that a patient's life or safety is in imminent danger shall be | ||||||
14 | investigated within 24 hours of such report. Under no | ||||||
15 | circumstances may a hospital's internal review of an allegation | ||||||
16 | of abuse replace an investigation of the allegation by the | ||||||
17 | Department. | ||||||
18 | (m) The Department shall keep a continuing record of all | ||||||
19 | reports made pursuant to this Section, including indications of | ||||||
20 | the final determination of any investigation and the final | ||||||
21 | disposition of all reports. The Department shall inform the | ||||||
22 | investigated hospital and any other person making a report | ||||||
23 | under subsection (g) of its final determination or disposition | ||||||
24 | in writing. | ||||||
25 | (n) The Department shall not disclose to the public any | ||||||
26 | information regarding any reports and investigations under |
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1 | this Section unless and until the report of abuse is | ||||||
2 | substantiated following a full and proper investigation. | ||||||
3 | (o) All patient identifiable information in any report or | ||||||
4 | investigation under this Section shall be confidential and | ||||||
5 | shall not be disclosed except as authorized by this Act or | ||||||
6 | other applicable law. | ||||||
7 | (p) Nothing in this Section relieves a hospital | ||||||
8 | administrator, employee, agent, or medical staff member from | ||||||
9 | contacting appropriate law enforcement authorities as required | ||||||
10 | by law. | ||||||
11 | (q) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean that | ||||||
12 | a patient is a victim of abuse because of health care services | ||||||
13 | provided or not provided by health care professionals. | ||||||
14 | (r) Nothing in this Section shall require a hospital, | ||||||
15 | including its employees, agents, and medical staff members, to | ||||||
16 | provide any services to a patient in contravention of his or | ||||||
17 | her stated or implied objection thereto upon grounds that such | ||||||
18 | services conflict with his or her religious beliefs or | ||||||
19 | practices, nor shall such a patient be considered abused under | ||||||
20 | this Section for the exercise of such beliefs or practices. | ||||||
21 | (s) As used in this Section, the following terms have the | ||||||
22 | following meanings: | ||||||
23 | "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual abuse | ||||||
24 | intentionally inflicted by a hospital employee, agent, or | ||||||
25 | medical staff member on a patient of the hospital and does not | ||||||
26 | include any hospital, medical, health care, or other personal |
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1 | care services done in good faith in the interest of the patient | ||||||
2 | according to established medical and clinical standards of | ||||||
3 | care. | ||||||
4 | "Mental injury" means intentionally caused emotional | ||||||
5 | distress in a patient from words or gestures that would be | ||||||
6 | considered by a reasonable person to be humiliating, harassing, | ||||||
7 | or threatening and which causes observable and substantial | ||||||
8 | impairment. | ||||||
9 | "Sexual abuse" means any intentional act of sexual contact | ||||||
10 | or sexual penetration of a patient in the hospital. | ||||||
11 | "Substantiated", with respect to a report of abuse, means | ||||||
12 | that a preponderance of the evidence indicates that abuse | ||||||
13 | occurred. | ||||||
14 | (t) Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that | ||||||
15 | may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head | ||||||
16 | under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to | ||||||
17 | make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions | ||||||
18 | of this Section. If, however, the Governor believes that rules | ||||||
19 | are necessary to implement or enforce the provisions of this | ||||||
20 | Section, the Governor may suggest rules to the General Assembly | ||||||
21 | by filing them with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of | ||||||
22 | the Senate and by requesting that the General Assembly | ||||||
23 | authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those suggested rules | ||||||
24 | into law, or take any other appropriate action in the General | ||||||
25 | Assembly's discretion. Nothing in this Section shall be | ||||||
26 | interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other |
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| |||||||
1 | Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise | ||||||
2 | explicitly given. For the purposes of this Section, "rules" is | ||||||
3 | given the meaning contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois | ||||||
4 | Administrative Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" | ||||||
5 | are given the meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of | ||||||
6 | the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that | ||||||
7 | such definitions apply to agencies and agency heads under the | ||||||
8 | jurisdiction of the Governor.
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