Bill Text: NY S02277 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires health care facilities to report incidents of a sexual offense to the departments of health and education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S02277 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S02277-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2277

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 20, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation  to  reporting  inci-
          dents of possible professional misconduct

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

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Clara's Law".
     2    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 2803-e of  the  public  health  law,  as
     3  added  by  chapter  866  of the laws of 1980, is amended by adding a new
     4  paragraph (c) to read as follows:
     5    (c) Hospitals and other facilities approved pursuant to  this  article
     6  shall  make  a report or cause a report to be made within thirty days of
     7  every separate allegation of a sexual offense, as defined in article one
     8  hundred thirty of the penal law, by a  health  care  practitioner  which
     9  involves a patient.
    10    §  3.  Subdivision  2  of  section 2803-e of the public health law, as
    11  amended by chapter 542 of the laws of 2000, is amended and a new  subdi-
    12  vision 4 is added to read as follows:
    13    2.  Reports  of possible professional misconduct made pursuant to this
    14  section shall be made  in  writing  to  the  education  department  with
    15  respect  to  all  individuals  licensed  pursuant  to title eight of the
    16  education law except that such reports shall be made to  the  department
    17  of health in the case of physicians, physician's assistants and special-
    18  ist's assistants. Reports for all allegations of a sexual offense pursu-
    19  ant  to paragraph (c) of this section shall be made to the department of
    20  health in addition to the education department with respect to all indi-
    21  viduals licensed pursuant to title eight of the education  law.  Written
    22  reports shall include the following information:
    23    (a) name, address, profession and license number of the individual;
    24    (b)  a  description  of the action taken by the hospital including the
    25  reason for the action and the date thereof, or the nature of the  action

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04586-01-1
        S. 2277                             2

     1  or  conduct  which  led  to  the resignation or withdrawal, and the date
     2  thereof, stated with sufficient specificity to allow a reasonable person
     3  to understand which of the reasons enumerated in subdivision one of this
     4  section  led  to  the action of the hospital or the resignation or with-
     5  drawal of the individual, and, if the reason was an act or  omission  of
     6  the individual, the particular act or omission;
     7    (c) any criminal conviction of which the hospital has knowledge; and
     8    (d)  such other information as the education department or the depart-
     9  ment of health shall require.
    10    4. For purposes of this section the term  "health  care  practitioner"
    11  shall mean a person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to prac-
    12  tice under title eight of the education law.
    13    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    14  have become a law.