Bill Text: IL HB1354 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Medical Patient Rights Act. Provides that every health care facility in this State shall permit the next of kin of a patient who is on life support to remain with the patient, at the patient's bedside, irrespective of regular hours of visitation. Provides that health care facilities may institute reasonable policies, including reasonable requirements that promote the health, safety, and welfare of the next of kin, the patient, and the employees and other patients of the health care facility without revoking the basic right afforded to the next of kin of a patient who is on life support. Defines "next of kin".

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Mary Beth Canty [HB1354 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB1354-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB1354 Introduced , by Rep. Mary Beth Canty SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
410 ILCS 50/3.2 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5403.2
Amends the Medical Patient Rights Act. Provides that every health care facility in this State shall permit the next of kin of a patient who is on life support to remain with the patient, at the patient's bedside, irrespective of regular hours of visitation. Provides that health care facilities may institute reasonable policies, including reasonable requirements that promote the health, safety, and welfare of the next of kin, the patient, and the employees and other patients of the health care facility without revoking the basic right afforded to the next of kin of a patient who is on life support. Defines "next of kin".
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning health.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Medical Patient Rights Act is amended by
changing Section 3.2 as follows:
(410 ILCS 50/3.2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5403.2)
Sec. 3.2. Visitation rights, policies, and procedures.
(a) Every health care facility in this State shall permit
visitation by any person or persons designated by a patient
who is 18 years of age or older and who is allowed rights of
visitation unless (1) the facility does not allow any
visitation for a patient or patients, or (2) the facility or
the patient's physician determines that visitation would
endanger the physical health or safety of a patient or
visitor, or would interfere with the operations of the
facility.
(a-5) Notwithstanding subsection (a), during a period for
which the Governor has issued a proclamation under Section 7
of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act declaring that
a disaster exists or in the event of an outbreak or epidemic of
a communicable disease in the community in which the health
care facility is located, a health care facility shall ensure
an opportunity for at least one visitor to visit a resident or

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patient of the health care facility. A health care facility
shall not count a clergy member toward any limit on the number
of visitors permitted to visit a resident or patient at one
time and shall permit a clergy member to visit with a resident
or patient in addition to the permitted number of visitors.
Visitation shall be subject to the guidelines, conditions, and
limitations of the health care facility's visitation policy
and any rules or guidelines established by the U.S. Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Visitors under this subsection may be required by the
health care facility to submit to health screenings necessary
to prevent the spread of infectious disease. A health care
facility may restrict facility access to a visitor who does
not pass its health screening requirement. A health care
facility may require a visitor to adhere to infection control
procedures, including wearing personal protective equipment. A
health care facility may deny visitation under this Act if
visitation would endanger the physical health or safety of a
patient, the visitor, or health care workers or would
otherwise create a public health or safety problem.
(a-10) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a skilled nursing
home, extended care facility, or intermediate care facility
may prohibit an individual from visiting a resident or patient
of the nursing home or facility if specific facts demonstrate
that the individual would endanger his or her physical health

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or safety or the health or safety of a resident, patient, or
health care worker of the nursing home or facility. Any denial
of visitation under this subsection (a-10) shall be in writing
and shall be provided to the individual and the resident or
patient with whom the individual was denied visitation.
(a-15) Each skilled nursing home, extended care facility,
and intermediate care facility shall:
(1) inform each resident of the nursing home or
facility (or that individual's representative) of the
resident's visitation rights and the nursing home or
facility's visitation-related policies and procedures,
including any clinical or safety-related restriction or
limitation on visitation rights, the reasons for the
restriction or limitation, and the persons to whom the
restriction or limitation may apply;
(2) inform each resident of the resident's right:
(A) to consent to receive designated visitors,
such as a spouse, including, without limitation, a
same-sex spouse; a domestic partner, including,
without limitation, a same-sex domestic partner;
another family member; or a friend; and
(B) to withdraw or deny that consent at any time;
(3) not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation
privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or
disability; and

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(4) ensure that all of the resident's visitors enjoy
full and equal visitation privileges, consistent with the
resident's preferences.
(a-20) Notwithstanding subsection (a), every health care
facility in this State shall permit the next of kin of a
patient who is on life support to remain with the patient, at
the patient's bedside, irrespective of regular hours of
visitation. Every health care facility in this State may
institute reasonable policies, including reasonable
requirements that promote the health, safety, and welfare of
the next of kin, the patient, and the employees and other
patients of the health care facility without revoking the
basic right afforded under this subsection to the next of kin
of a patient who is on life support to remain with the patient
or at the patient's bedside. In this subsection, "next of kin"
means one and only one person who is a spouse, or, in the
absence of a spouse, a parent, or, in the absence of a parent,
a child, or, in the absence of a child, a sibling.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a-5) and subsection
(a-20), nothing in this Section shall be construed to further
limit or restrict the right of visitation provided by other
provisions of law or to restrict the ability of a health care
facility to regulate hours of visitation, the number of
visitors per patient, or the movement of visitors within the
health care facility.
(c) For the purposes of this Section a "health care

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