By: Duncan S.B. No. 1138
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to regional poison control centers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 777.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 777.001. REGIONAL POISON CONTROL CENTERS. (a) Six
regional centers for poison control are designated as the regional
poison control centers for the state as follows:
(1) The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston;
(2) the Dallas County Hospital District/North Texas
Poison Center;
(3) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
San Antonio;
(4) R. E. Thomason General Hospital, El Paso County
Hospital District;
(5) [Northwest] Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center [Hospital, Amarillo Hospital District]; and
(6) Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Temple, Texas.
(b) The poison control centers shall coordinate poison
control activities within the designated health and human services
regions for the state. The [Texas] Department of State Health
Services and the [Advisory] Commission on State Emergency
Communications shall jointly adopt rules designating the region for
each poison control center. The [Texas] Department of State Health
Services and the [Advisory] Commission on State Emergency
Communications may jointly adopt rules permitting poison control
centers to provide services for regions served by other poison
control centers in this state as necessary to maximize efficient
use of resources and provide appropriate services in each region.
(c) The executive commissioner of the [Texas Board of]
Health and Human Services Commission may [vote to] designate a
seventh regional or satellite poison control center in Harris
County. That poison control center is subject to all provisions of
this chapter and other law relating to regional poison control
centers.
SECTION 2. Section 777.006, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 777.006. INFORMATION AT BIRTH. The [Texas] Department
of State Health Services shall assist the regional poison control
centers in providing informational packets on poison prevention to
parents of newborns.
SECTION 3. Sections 777.008 and 777.009, Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 777.008. COORDINATING COMMITTEE. (a) The
coordinating committee on poison control shall advise the
Department [Texas Board] of State Health Services and the
[Advisory] Commission on State Emergency Communications.
(b) The committee is composed of one public member appointed
by the executive commissioner [Texas Board] of the Health and Human
Services Commission, one public member appointed by the [Advisory]
Commission on State Emergency Communications, and eight [13]
members appointed by the chief executive officer of each of the
following entities:
(1) The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston;
(2) the Dallas County Hospital District/North Texas
Poison Center;
(3) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
San Antonio;
(4) R. E. Thomason General Hospital, El Paso County
Hospital District;
(5) [Northwest Texas Hospital, Amarillo Hospital
District;
[(6)] Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Temple,
Texas;
(6) [(7) The University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center at Dallas;
[(8) The Texas A&M University Health Science Center;
[(9)] the Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center;
(7) [(10) the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic
Laboratory;
[(11) the Department of Agriculture;
[(12)] the [Texas] Department of State Health
Services; and
(8) [(13)] the [Advisory] Commission on State
Emergency Communications.
Sec. 777.009. FUNDING. (a) The [Texas] Department of
State Health Services and the [Advisory] Commission on State
Emergency Communications shall establish a program to award grants
to fund the regional poison control centers.
(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission on behalf of the Department [Texas Board] of
State Health Services and the [Advisory] Commission on State
Emergency Communications shall jointly adopt rules to establish
criteria for awarding the grants. The rules must require the
agencies to consider:
(1) the need of the region based on population served
for poison control services and the extent to which the grant would
meet the identified need;
(2) the assurance of providing quality services;
(3) the availability of other funding sources;
(4) achieving or maintaining certification as a poison
control center with the American Association of Poison Control
Centers;
(5) maintenance of effort; and
(6) the development or existence of
telecommunications systems.
(c) The [Texas] Department of State Health Services and the
[Advisory] Commission on State Emergency Communications may
approve grants according to the [their] jointly adopted rules. A
grant awarded under this section is governed by Chapter 783,
Government Code, and the rules adopted under that chapter.
(d) The [Texas] Department of State Health Services and the
[Advisory] Commission on State Emergency Communications may accept
gifts or grants from any source for purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 777.010, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) On approval by and in coordination with the governor,
the [Texas] Department of State Health Services and the [Advisory]
Commission on State Emergency Communications may jointly enter into
a contract for the provision of telephone referral and information
services or any program or service described by Section 777.003 to
any person, including:
(1) another state or a political subdivision of
another state; and
(2) another country or a political subdivision of
another country.
(b) The [Texas] Department of State Health Services and the
[Advisory] Commission on State Emergency Communications shall
contract with one or more regional poison control centers to
provide the services required under a contract entered into under
Subsection (a). The department and the commission may not enter
into a contract under this subsection if, in the opinion of the
department and the commission, the regional poison control center's
performance of the contract would result in a diminishment in the
services provided in the region.
SECTION 5. Section 777.011, Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.