Bill Text: NY A02931 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes evidence-based, flexible staffing models for general hospitals and nursing homes; establishes a commission on hospital staffing to review and update hospital staffing models; establishes a commission on nursing home staffing to review and update nursing home staffing models; provides such models shall be based on the best available evidence regarding staffing and patient safety, provide hospitals or nursing homes with the opportunity to adjust staffing levels in response to the relative skill of the professional staff and the current acuity of the patients, address the patient care roles played by direct-care nursing staff, non-nursing direct-care staff, and allied health professionals, and be adaptable to the relative availability of staff in the regional labor market where the facility is located.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to health [A02931 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02931-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2931

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 1, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Health

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  health law, in relation to establishing
          evidence-based, flexible staffing models  for  general  hospitals  and
          nursing homes

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  article
     2  28-F to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 28-F
     4                SAFE STAFFING IN HOSPITALS AND NURSING HOMES

     5  Section 2900.   Definitions.
     6          2900-a. Commission on hospital staffing.
     7          2900-b. Hospital staffing models and requirements.
     8          2900-c. Commission on nursing home staffing.
     9          2900-d. Nursing home staffing models and requirements.
    10    § 2900. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the term:
    11    1.  "Hospital"  means a general hospital as defined in section twenty-
    12  eight hundred one of this chapter.
    13    2. "Nursing home" means a nursing home as defined in  section  twenty-
    14  eight hundred one of this chapter.
    15    3. "Nurse" means a registered professional nurse or licensed practical
    16  nurse licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-nine of the educa-
    17  tion law.
    18    4.  "Allied  healthcare  professional"  means  a  person, other than a
    19  nurse, physician, physician assistant, specialist  assistant,  or  nurse
    20  practitioner,  who  is  licensed  or  certified to practice a healthcare
    21  profession under title eight of the education  law,  acting  within  the
    22  scope of his or her practice.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06280-01-3
        A. 2931                             2

     1    5. "Direct-care nurse" and "direct-care nursing staff" means any nurse
     2  who  has  principal responsibility to oversee or carry out medical regi-
     3  mens, nursing, or other bedside care for one or more patients.
     4    6.  "Non-nursing  direct-care  staff"  means any employee who is not a
     5  nurse, allied healthcare professional, physician,  physician  assistant,
     6  specialist assistant, or nurse practitioner whose principal responsibil-
     7  ity  is  to  carry out patient care for one or more patients or provides
     8  direct assistance in the delivery of patient care.
     9    § 2900-a. Commission on hospital staffing.  1. There shall  be  estab-
    10  lished  within  the  department  a commission on hospital staffing to be
    11  composed of fifteen members appointed by the governor, with ten of these
    12  members appointed as follows:
    13    (a) three members upon the recommendation of the  temporary  president
    14  of the senate;
    15    (b)  two members upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the
    16  senate;
    17    (c) three members upon the recommendation of the speaker of the assem-
    18  bly; and
    19    (d) two members upon the recommendation of the minority leader of  the
    20  assembly.
    21    2. The commission's membership shall contain:
    22    (a) the commissioner or his or her designee;
    23    (b)  seven  nurses,  of whom at least four shall be direct-care nurses
    24  and at least two of whom shall be representative of recognized or certi-
    25  fied collective bargaining agents of non-nursing direct care staff;
    26    (c) two representatives of non-nursing direct-care staff, of  whom  at
    27  least  one  shall be a representative of recognized or certified collec-
    28  tive bargaining agents of non-nursing direct care staff;
    29    (d) three representatives of hospital administrators; and
    30    (e) two representatives of allied health professionals.
    31    3. Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall  be  filled  by
    32  the appropriate appointing authority. The governor shall select a chair-
    33  person  from  among  the  members  of  the commission. Membership on the
    34  commission shall be reflective of the diversity  of  the  state's  popu-
    35  lation  including,  but not limited to, the various geographic areas and
    36  population densities throughout the state.
    37    4. The commission shall meet on at least an annual basis,  or  at  the
    38  request  of the commissioner, to review and update the hospital staffing
    39  models created pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred-b of  this  arti-
    40  cle.
    41    §  2900-b.  Hospital staffing models and requirements.  1. The commis-
    42  sioner, after consulting with the commission on hospital staffing estab-
    43  lished pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred-a of this article,  shall
    44  promulgate regulations establishing hospital staffing models.
    45    2. These models shall:
    46    (a)  be  based  on  the best available evidence regarding staffing and
    47  patient safety;
    48    (b) provide hospitals with the opportunity to adjust  staffing  levels
    49  in  response  to  the  relative  skill of the professional staff and the
    50  current acuity of the patients;
    51    (c) address the patient  care  roles  played  by  direct-care  nursing
    52  staff,  non-nursing  direct-care staff, and allied health professionals;
    53  and
    54    (d) be adaptable to the relative availability of staff in the regional
    55  labor market where the facility is located.
        A. 2931                             3

     1    § 2900-c. Commission on nursing home staffing.    1.  There  shall  be
     2  established  within the department a commission on nursing home staffing
     3  to be composed of fifteen members appointed by the governor, with ten of
     4  these members appointed as follows:
     5    (a)  three  members upon the recommendation of the temporary president
     6  of the senate;
     7    (b) two members upon the recommendation of the minority leader of  the
     8  senate;
     9    (c) three members upon the recommendation of the speaker of the assem-
    10  bly; and
    11    (d)  two members upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the
    12  assembly.
    13    2. The commission's membership shall contain:
    14    (a) the commissioner or his or her designee;
    15    (b) seven nurses, of whom at least four shall  be  direct-care  nurses
    16  and at least two of whom shall be representative of recognized or certi-
    17  fied collective bargaining agents of non-nursing direct care staff;
    18    (c)  two  representatives of non-nursing direct-care staff, of whom at
    19  least one shall be a representative of recognized or  certified  collec-
    20  tive bargaining agents of non-nursing direct care staff;
    21    (d) three representatives of nursing home operators; and
    22    (e) two representatives of allied health professionals.
    23    3.  Vacancies  in  the membership of the commission shall be filled by
    24  the appropriate appointing authority. The governor shall select a chair-
    25  person from among the members  of  the  commission.  Membership  on  the
    26  commission  shall  be  reflective  of the diversity of the state's popu-
    27  lation including, but not limited to, the various geographic  areas  and
    28  population densities throughout the state.
    29    4.  The  commission  shall meet on at least an annual basis, or at the
    30  request of the commissioner, to  review  and  update  the  nursing  home
    31  staffing  models  created  pursuant  to section twenty-nine hundred-d of
    32  this article.
    33    § 2900-d. Nursing home staffing  models  and  requirements.    1.  The
    34  commissioner,  after  consulting  with  the  commission  on nursing home
    35  staffing established pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred-c  of  this
    36  article, shall promulgate regulations establishing nursing home staffing
    37  models.
    38    2. These models shall:
    39    (a)  be  based  on  the best available evidence regarding staffing and
    40  patient safety;
    41    (b) provide nursing homes with  the  opportunity  to  adjust  staffing
    42  levels  in  response to the relative skill of the professional staff and
    43  the current acuity of the patients;
    44    (c) address the patient  care  roles  played  by  direct-care  nursing
    45  staff,  non-nursing  direct-care staff, and allied health professionals;
    46  and
    47    (d) be adaptable to the relative availability of staff in the regional
    48  labor market where the facility is located.
    49    § 2. Severability. If any provision of this act, or any application of
    50  any provision of this act, is held to be invalid, or ruled by any feder-
    51  al agency to violate or be inconsistent with any applicable federal  law
    52  or  regulation,  that  shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of
    53  any other provision of this act, or of  any  other  application  of  any
    54  provision of this act.
    55    §  3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
    56  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
        A. 2931                             4

     1  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
     2  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
     3  effective date.