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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 3313 By: Roe, Boles, Stark, McDugle,
and Phillips
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to hospital visitation; amending 63
O.S. 2021, Section 1-706a, which relates to the No
Patient Left Alone Act; mod ifying requirements;
requiring agency reporting; requiring agency
investigation of claims; creating private cause of
action; creating requirements; specifying da mages;
providing for codification; providing an effe ctive
date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 1-706a, is
amended to read as follows :
Section 1-706a. A. This section shall be known and may be
cited as the "No Patient Left Alone Act ".
B. Subject to the provisions of subsections D and E of this
section, each minor who is admitted to a hospital licen sed pursuant
to Section 1-702 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title,
including a minor patient hospitalized with CO VID-19, has the right
to have a parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis who
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shall have the ability to be physically present while the minor
patient is receiving hospital care.
C. Subject to the provisions of subsections D and E of this
section, each adult who is admi tted to a hospital licensed pursuant
to Section 1-702 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title,
including a patient hospitalized with CO VID-19, has the right to
designate a spouse, or at least one family member or caregiver who
shall have the ability t o be physically present while the adult
patient is receiving hospital car e.
D. A hospital may establish visitation policies that limit or
restrict visitation when:
1. The presence of visitors would be medically or
therapeutically contraindicated in the b est clinical judgment of
health care professionals; however, a diagnosis of COVID-19 alone
shall not constitute a medical or therapeu tic cause for visitation
rights to be removed;
2. The presence of visitors would interfere with the care of or
rights of any patient;
3. Visitors are engaging in disruptive, threatening or violent
behavior toward any staff member, patient or other v isitor; or
4. Visitors are noncompl iant with hospital policy.
E. A hospital may require visitors to wear personal protective
equipment, provided that any such required equipment shall be
provided by the hospital . A hospital may require visitors to compl y
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with reasonable safety protocols a nd rules of conduct. The hospital
may revoke visitation rights for failure to comply with this
section.
F. A hospital may enact policies establishing reasonable
visitation hours; provided, the policies allow for a compassionate
exemption process for twenty-four-hour visitation in end-of-life
scenarios.
G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a
hospital to allow a visitor to enter an operating room, isolation
room, isolation unit , behavioral health setting or other typically
restricted area or to remain present during the administration of
emergency care in critical situations . Nothing in this section
shall be construed to require a hospital to allo w a visitor access
beyond the rooms, units or wards in which the p atient the visitor is
visiting is receiving care or beyond general common areas in the
hospital.
G. H. The rights specified in this section may not be
terminated, suspended or waived by the ho spital, the State
Department of Health or any governmental entit y, notwithstanding
declarations of emergency declared by the Governor or the
Legislature. No hospital licensed pursuant to Section 1-702 of
Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title shall require a patient
to waive the rights specified in this section.
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H. I. Each hospital licensed pursuant to Section 1-702 of Title
63 of the Oklahoma Statutes this title shall post on its website
informational materials developed by the State Department of Health
explaining the rights specified in this section . The State
Department of Health s hall develop such informational materials and
make the materials available to hospitals for thi s purpose.
I. J. Unless expressly required by federal law o r regulation,
the State Department of He alth or any other state agency shall not
take any action agains t a hospital for:
1. Giving a visitor individual acces s to a hospital-controlled
property or location;
2. Failing to protect or otherwise ensure the sa fety or comfort
of a visitor given acces s to a hospital-controlled property or
location;
3. Failing to follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention or other federal gui delines that require or
recommend restricting visitor access all reasonable facility safety
protocols and rules of conduct ; or
4. The acts or omissions of any vi sitor who is given access to
a hospital-controlled property or location.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-706b of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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1. Where a complaint has been made against a hospital for
violating the No Patient Left Alone Act, a complainant may bring a
civil action against the hospital for:
a. injunctive relief to prevent the hospital from further
violations of this section,
b. statutory damages in the amount of Two Thousand Five
Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) for each day that the
defendant violated the No Patient Left Alone A ct, and
c. costs and attorney fees .
2. A court may not award relief under this section in response
to a violation of the No Patient Left Alone Act if the defendant
demonstrates that th e defendant previously paid the full amount of
statutory damages in a previous action for that particular incident
which violated the No Patient Left Alone Act , or if the defendant
demonstrates that the defendant previously settled a civil action
for the same incident that violated the No Patient Left Alone Act.
3. A person may bring an action under the No Patient Left Alon e
Act not later than one (1) year after the date of the violations of
the No Patient Left Alone Act.
4. A defendant of an action under th is section shall be
entitled to costs and attorney fees as the court may find
appropriate for any unmerited claims.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effecti ve July 1, 2022.
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SECTION 4. It being immediate ly necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason wher eof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and aft er its passage and approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH, dated 03/02/2022 -
DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.