Amended  IN  Assembly  April 17, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1577

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 17, 2023

An act to add Section 1271.2 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1577, as amended, Low. General acute care hospitals: clinical placements: nursing.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would require a general acute care hospital, as a condition of licensure, to provide clinical placements for postsecondary educational students enrolled hospital to make quarterly reports to the department of the number of nursing clinical placements filled by the hospital for that quarter, and would require the department to categorize the information, as specified, and post it on its internet website. The bill would require a community college with postsecondary educational students in an approved school of nursing or an approved program of nursing education, as defined. Because a violation of this requirement by a general acute care hospital would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. defined, to notify the department, by March 1 of each year, of the number of clinical placements the community college will require for the next academic year. The bill would require a general acute care hospital to meet the clinical placement needs of community colleges or be subject to a fine or loss of license.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 1271.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1271.2.
 (a) A general acute care hospital shall report to the department, on a quarterly basis, the number of nursing clinical placements filled by the hospital for that quarter. The department shall categorize the information by hospital, school type, school name, and clinical placement location. The department shall post the information on its internet website.
(b) By March 1 of each year, a community college with postsecondary educational students enrolled in an approved school of nursing or an approved program of nursing education, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 2786 of the Business and Professions Code, shall notify the department of the number of clinical placements the community college will require for the next academic year.
(c) A general acute care hospital shall meet the clinical placement needs of community colleges with postsecondary educational students enrolled in an approved school of nursing or an approved program of nursing education. A hospital that fails to meet those placement needs may be subject to a fine or loss of licensure. Section 1290 shall not apply with respect to this section.

SECTION 1.Section 1271.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1271.2.

As a condition of licensure, a general acute care hospital shall provide clinical placements for postsecondary educational students enrolled in an approved school of nursing or an approved program of nursing education, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 2786 of the Business and Professions Code.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.