Public Act 096-0692
 
HB3649 Enrolled LRB096 09384 DRJ 21774 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by
changing Section 9 and by adding Section 9.6 as follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 85/9)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 150)
    Sec. 9. Inspections and investigations. The Department
shall make or cause to be made such inspections and
investigations as it deems necessary, except that, subject to
appropriation, the Department shall investigate every
allegation of abuse of a patient received by the Department.
Information received by the Department through filed reports,
inspection, or as otherwise authorized under this Act shall not
be disclosed publicly in such manner as to identify individuals
or hospitals, except (i) in a proceeding involving the denial,
suspension, or revocation of a permit to establish a hospital
or a proceeding involving the denial, suspension, or revocation
of a license to open, conduct, operate, and maintain a
hospital, (ii) to the Department of Children and Family
Services in the course of a child abuse or neglect
investigation conducted by that Department or by the Department
of Public Health, (iii) in accordance with Section 6.14a of
this Act, or (iv) in other circumstances as may be approved by
the Hospital Licensing Board.
(Source: P.A. 90-608, eff. 6-30-98; 91-242, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
    (210 ILCS 85/9.6 new)
    Sec. 9.6. Patient protection from abuse.
    (a) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital or a
member of its medical staff may abuse a patient in the
hospital.
    (b) Any hospital administrator, agent, employee, or
medical staff member who has reasonable cause to believe that
any patient with whom he or she has direct contact has been
subjected to abuse in the hospital shall promptly report or
cause a report to be made to a designated hospital
administrator responsible for providing such reports to the
Department as required by this Section.
    (c) Retaliation against a person who lawfully and in good
faith makes a report under this Section is prohibited.
    (d) Upon receiving a report under subsection (b) of this
Section, the hospital shall submit the report to the Department
within 24 hours of obtaining such report. In the event that the
hospital receives multiple reports involving a single alleged
instance of abuse, the hospital shall submit one report to the
Department.
    (e) Upon receiving a report under this Section, the
hospital shall promptly conduct an internal review to ensure
the alleged victim's safety. Measures to protect the alleged
victim shall be taken as deemed necessary by the hospital's
administrator and may include, but are not limited to, removing
suspected violators from further patient contact during the
hospital's internal review. If the alleged victim lacks
decision-making capacity under the Health Care Surrogate Act
and no health care surrogate is available, the hospital may
contact the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission to
determine the need for a temporary guardian of that person.
    (f) All internal hospital reviews shall be conducted by a
designated hospital employee or agent who is qualified to
detect abuse and is not involved in the alleged victim's
treatment. All internal review findings must be documented and
filed according to hospital procedures and shall be made
available to the Department upon request.
    (g) Any other person may make a report of patient abuse to
the Department if that person has reasonable cause to believe
that a patient has been abused in the hospital.
    (h) The report required under this Section shall include:
the name of the patient; the name and address of the hospital
treating the patient; the age of the patient; the nature of the
patient's condition, including any evidence of previous
injuries or disabilities; and any other information that the
reporter believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of
the reported abuse and the identity of the person believed to
have caused the abuse.
    (i) Except for willful or wanton misconduct, any
individual, person, institution, or agency participating in
good faith in the making of a report under this Section, or in
the investigation of such a report or in making a disclosure of
information concerning reports of abuse under this Section,
shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil,
professional, or criminal, that otherwise might result by
reason of such actions. For the purpose of any proceedings,
whether civil, professional, or criminal, the good faith of any
persons required to report cases of suspected abuse under this
Section or who disclose information concerning reports of abuse
in compliance with this Section, shall be presumed.
    (j) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital
shall adopt or employ practices or procedures designed to
discourage good faith reporting of patient abuse under this
Section.
    (k) Every hospital shall ensure that all new and existing
employees are trained in the detection and reporting of abuse
of patients and retrained at least every 2 years thereafter.
    (l) The Department shall investigate each report of patient
abuse made under this Section according to the procedures of
the Department, except that a report of abuse which indicates
that a patient's life or safety is in imminent danger shall be
investigated within 24 hours of such report. Under no
circumstances may a hospital's internal review of an allegation
of abuse replace an investigation of the allegation by the
Department.
    (m) The Department shall keep a continuing record of all
reports made pursuant to this Section, including indications of
the final determination of any investigation and the final
disposition of all reports. The Department shall inform the
investigated hospital and any other person making a report
under subsection (g) of its final determination or disposition
in writing.
    (n) The Department shall not disclose to the public any
information regarding any reports and investigations under
this Section unless and until the report of abuse is
substantiated following a full and proper investigation.
    (o) All patient identifiable information in any report or
investigation under this Section shall be confidential and
shall not be disclosed except as authorized by this Act or
other applicable law.
    (p) Nothing in this Section relieves a hospital
administrator, employee, agent, or medical staff member from
contacting appropriate law enforcement authorities as required
by law.
    (q) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean that
a patient is a victim of abuse because of health care services
provided or not provided by health care professionals.
    (r) Nothing in this Section shall require a hospital,
including its employees, agents, and medical staff members, to
provide any services to a patient in contravention of his or
her stated or implied objection thereto upon grounds that such
services conflict with his or her religious beliefs or
practices, nor shall such a patient be considered abused under
this Section for the exercise of such beliefs or practices.
    (s) The Department's implementation of this Section is
subject to appropriations to the Department for that purpose.
    (t) As used in this Section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
    "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual abuse
intentionally inflicted by a hospital employee, agent, or
medical staff member on a patient of the hospital and does not
include any hospital, medical, health care, or other personal
care services done in good faith in the interest of the patient
according to established medical and clinical standards of
care.
    "Mental injury" means intentionally caused emotional
distress in a patient from words or gestures that would be
considered by a reasonable person to be humiliating, harassing,
or threatening and which causes observable and substantial
impairment.
    "Sexual abuse" means any intentional act of sexual contact
or sexual penetration of a patient in the hospital.
    "Substantiated", with respect to a report of abuse, means
that a preponderance of the evidence indicates that abuse
occurred.