83R24349 JSC-D
By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 2560
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2560:
By: Collier C.S.H.B. No. 2560
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the duties of health care facilities, health care
providers, and the Department of State Health Services with respect
to care provided to a sexual assault survivor in an emergency
department of a health care facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 323.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department shall comply with Section 323.004. At the request of the
department, a health care facility that has an emergency department
shall submit to the department for approval a plan for providing the
services required by Section 323.004 to sexual assault survivors
who arrive for treatment at the emergency department of the health
care facility.
SECTION 2. Section 323.004, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
(a-1), (a-2), (b-1), and (d) to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (a-2), after
[After] a sexual assault survivor arrives at a health care facility
following an alleged sexual assault, the facility shall[:
[(1)] provide care to the survivor in accordance with
Subsection (b).
(a-1) A facility that is not a health care facility
designated in a community-wide plan as the primary health care
facility in the community for treating sexual assault survivors
shall inform the survivor that:
(1) the facility is not the designated facility and
provide to the survivor the name and location of the designated
facility; and
(2) the survivor is entitled, at the survivor's
option:
(A) to receive the care described by Subsection
(b) at that facility, subject to Subsection (b-1); or
(B) to be stabilized and to be transferred to and
receive the care described by Subsection (b) at a health care
facility designated in a community-wide plan as the primary health
care facility in the community for treating sexual assault
survivors.
(a-2) If a survivor chooses to be transferred under
Subsection (a-1)(2)(B), after obtaining the survivor's written,
signed consent to the transfer, the facility shall [; or
[(2)] stabilize and transfer the survivor to a health
care facility in the community designated in a community-wide plan
as the primary health care facility in the community for treating
sexual assault survivors, which shall provide care to the survivor
in accordance with Subsection (b).
(b) A health care facility providing care to a sexual
assault survivor shall provide the survivor with:
(1) subject to Subsection (b-1), a forensic medical
examination in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 420,
Government Code, if the examination has been requested by a law
enforcement agency under Article 56.06, Code of Criminal Procedure,
or is conducted under Article 56.065, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) a private area, if available, to wait or speak with
the appropriate medical, legal, or sexual assault crisis center
staff or volunteer until a physician, nurse, or physician assistant
is able to treat the survivor;
(3) access to a sexual assault program advocate, if
available, as provided by Article 56.045, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(4) the information form required by Section 323.005;
(5) a private treatment room, if available;
(6) if indicated by the history of contact, access to
appropriate prophylaxis for exposure to sexually transmitted
infections; and
(7) the name and telephone number of the nearest
sexual assault crisis center.
(b-1) A person may not perform a forensic examination on a
sexual assault survivor unless the person has the basic training
described by Section 323.0045 or the equivalent education and
training.
(d) This section does not affect the duty of a health care
facility to comply with the requirements of the federal Emergency
Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section
1395dd) that are applicable to the facility.
SECTION 3. Chapter 323, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 323.0045 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.0045. BASIC SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EVIDENCE
COLLECTION TRAINING. (a) A person who performs a forensic
examination on a sexual assault survivor must have at least basic
forensic evidence collection training or the equivalent education.
(b) A person who completes a continuing medical education
course in forensic evidence collection that is approved by the
appropriate licensing board is considered to have basic sexual
assault forensic evidence training for purposes of this chapter.
(c) The department may approve training programs under this
section, including programs developed and implemented by hospitals
for hospital staff.
(d) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department and that is not a health care facility designated in a
community-wide plan as the primary health care facility in the
community for treating sexual assault survivors shall develop a
plan to train personnel on sexual assault forensic evidence
collection.
SECTION 4. Chapter 323, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Sections 323.007 and 323.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.007. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS WHO ARE MINORS.
This chapter does not affect the working protocols set forth by
multidisciplinary teams under Subchapter E, Chapter 264, Family
Code, to ensure access to specialized medical assessments for
sexual assault survivors who are minors. To the extent of a
conflict with Subchapter E, Chapter 264, Family Code, that
subchapter controls.
Sec. 323.008. DATA PUBLICATION. The department shall post
on the department's Internet website a list of all hospitals that
are designated in a community-wide plan as the primary health care
facility in the community for treating sexual assault survivors.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.