H.B. No. 3152
AN ACT
relating to the care and transportation provided to a sexual
assault survivor by a health care facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 323.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (3) and adding Subdivisions (3-a)
and (4-a) to read as follows:
(3) "Health care facility" means a general or special
hospital licensed under Chapter 241, [or] a general or special
hospital owned by this state, or a freestanding emergency medical
care facility licensed under Chapter 254.
(3-a) "SAFE-ready facility" means a health care
facility designated as a sexual assault forensic exam-ready
facility under Section 323.0015.
(4-a) "Sexual assault forensic examiner" means a
certified sexual assault nurse examiner or a physician with
specialized training on conducting a forensic medical examination.
SECTION 2. Chapter 323, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 323.0015 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.0015. SAFE-READY FACILITIES. The department shall
designate a health care facility as a sexual assault forensic
exam-ready facility, or SAFE-ready facility, if the facility
notifies the department that the facility employs or contracts with
a sexual assault forensic examiner or uses a telemedicine system of
sexual assault forensic examiners to provide consultation to a
licensed nurse or physician when conducting a sexual assault
forensic medical examination.
SECTION 3. Section 323.004, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and adding
Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
(a-1) A facility that is not a SAFE-ready [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 sexual assault survivor that:
(1) the facility is not a SAFE-ready [the designated]
facility and provide to the survivor the name and location of the
closest SAFE-ready [designated] facility and the information form
required by Section 323.0051; 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 SAFE-ready
[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 sexual assault 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
stabilize and transfer the survivor to a SAFE-ready [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).
(a-3) Before transferring a sexual assault survivor, a
health care facility that is not a SAFE-ready facility shall
contact the SAFE-ready facility to which the survivor will be
transferred to confirm a sexual assault forensic examiner is
available at that facility.
SECTION 4. Section 323.0045(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Each health care facility that has an emergency
department and that is not a SAFE-ready [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 5. Chapter 323, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 323.0051 to read as follows:
Sec. 323.0051. INFORMATION FORM FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
SURVIVORS AT CERTAIN FACILITIES. (a) The department shall develop
a standard information form for sexual assault survivors who arrive
at a health care facility that is not a SAFE-ready facility. The
information form must include:
(1) information regarding the benefits of a forensic
medical examination conducted by a sexual assault forensic
examiner;
(2) the Internet website address to the department's
list of SAFE-ready facilities that includes the facilities'
physical addresses as required by Section 323.008;
(3) the following statements:
(A) "As a survivor of sexual assault, you have
the right to receive a forensic medical examination at this
hospital emergency room if you are requesting the examination not
later than 96 hours after the assault.";
(B) "A report to law enforcement is not required,
but if you make a report, law enforcement must first authorize the
examination."; and
(C) "Call 1-800-656-HOPE to be connected to a
rape crisis center for free and confidential assistance."; and
(4) information on the procedure for submitting a
complaint against the health care facility.
(b) A health care facility that is not a SAFE-ready facility
shall provide the standard information form developed under this
section to each sexual assault survivor who arrives at the
facility.
SECTION 6. Section 323.008, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 323.008. DATA PUBLICATION. The department shall post
on the department's Internet website a list of all hospitals that
are designated as SAFE-ready facilities and the facilities'
physical addresses [in a community-wide plan as the primary health
care facility in the community for treating sexual assault
survivors]. The department shall update the list annually. To the
extent possible, the department shall collect the data required by
this section as part of a survey required by the department under
other law.
SECTION 7. Section 323.001(1), Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 8. (a) Not later than January 1, 2018, the
Department of State Health Services shall develop the information
form required by Section 323.0051, Health and Safety Code, as added
by this Act.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 323.0051, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, a health care facility is not required
to comply with that section until January 1, 2018.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3152 was passed by the House on May
12, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3152 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor