ENROLLED
ACT No. 646
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 517
BY REPRESENTATIVE SELDERS
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 15:831(A) and to enact R.S. 15:827.4, relative to medical
3 services in the Department of Public Safety and Corrections; to create a Medical
4 Advisory Council within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections; to
5 provide relative to membership and powers of the Medical Advisory Council; to
6 provide relative to powers of the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and
7 Corrections; and to provide for related matters.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. R.S. 15:831(A) is hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 15:827.4 is
10 hereby enacted to read as follows:
11 §827.4. Establishment of Medical Advisory Council
12 A. The Medical Advisory Council to the secretary is hereby created within
13 the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and shall consist of the medical
14 directors from each state prison facility and the department medical director.
15 B. The council shall provide recommendations to the department regarding
16 the following:
17 (1) Hiring and retention.
18 (2) Department policies.
19 (3) Post-mortem review.
20 (4) A correctional health electronic records system that is compatible with
21 major hospitals and health providers outside the correctional institutions.
22 (5) Other reasonably related responsibilities of institutional oversight.
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1 C. The council shall nominate and elect a chair, vice chair, and secretary, and
2 hold meetings no less than quarterly.
3 D. The initial members of the medical advisory council shall serve until
4 August 14, 2025, and all subsequent members shall serve three-year terms beginning
5 on August fifteenth of each successive term.
6 E. The secretary shall have the authority to contract with consultants to assist
7 the medical advisory council and medical director in the promulgation and review
8 of institutional policies and practices.
9 F. The council shall submit a quarterly report to the state health officer
10 within the Louisiana Department of Health.
11 * * *
12 §831. Medical care of inmates; testing
13 A. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, using
14 the recommendations of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections Medical
15 Advisory Council, shall establish and shall prescribe standards for health, medical,
16 and dental services for each institution, including preventive, diagnostic, and
17 therapeutic measures on both an outpatient and a hospital basis, for all types of
18 patients. An inmate may be taken to a medical facility outside the institution when
19 deemed necessary by the director. However, in situations which are not life-
20 threatening, the medical facility selected to treat the inmate shall be a part of the
21 state's charity hospital system. In emergency situations where treatment by a state
22 charity hospital is not available or feasible, the inmate may receive emergency
23 treatment at the nearest private medical facility. As soon as practicable, the inmate
24 should be transferred to a facility operated by the state's charity hospital system.
25 Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all payments to private hospitals or health
26 care providers shall be governed by R.S. 15:824(B)(1)(c). No monies appropriated
27 to the department from the state general fund or from dedicated funds shall be used
28 for medical costs associated with organ transplants for inmates or for the purposes
29 of providing cosmetic medical treatment of inmates, unless the condition
30 necessitating such treatment or organ transplant arises or results from an accident or
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1 situation which was the fault of the department or resulted from an action or lack of
2 action on the part of the department. However, nothing in this Section shall prohibit
3 an inmate from donating his vital organs for transplant purposes.
4 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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are additions.