87R8830 SRA-D
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 2211
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to in-person visitation with hospital patients during
certain periods of disaster.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 241, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 241.012 to read as follows:
Sec. 241.012. IN-PERSON HOSPITAL VISITATION DURING PERIOD
OF DISASTER. (a) In this section:
(1) "Hospital" means a hospital licensed under this
chapter.
(2) "Qualifying official disaster order" means an
order, proclamation, or other instrument issued by the governor,
another official of this state, or the governing body or an official
of a political subdivision of this state declaring a disaster that
has infectious disease as the basis for the declared disaster.
(3) "Qualifying period of disaster" means the period
of time the area in which a hospital is located is declared to be a
disaster area by a qualifying official disaster order.
(b) A hospital may not during a qualifying period of
disaster prohibit in-person visitation with a patient receiving
care or treatment at the hospital unless federal law or a federal
agency requires the hospital to prohibit in-person visitation
during that period.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a hospital may during a
qualifying period of disaster:
(1) restrict the number of visitors a patient
receiving care or treatment at the hospital may receive to not fewer
than one;
(2) require a visitor to the hospital to:
(A) complete a health screening before entering
the hospital; and
(B) wear personal protective equipment at all
times while visiting a patient at the hospital; and
(3) deny entry to a visitor who fails or refuses to:
(A) submit to or meet the requirements of a
health screening administered by the hospital; or
(B) wear personal protective equipment that
meets the hospital's infection control and safety requirements in
the manner prescribed by the hospital.
(d) A health screening administered by a hospital under this
section must be conducted in a manner that is consistent with:
(1) hospital policy; and
(2) if applicable, guidance or directives issued by
the commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or
another agency with regulatory authority over the hospital.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a hospital is not subject
to civil or criminal liability or an administrative penalty if a
visitor contracts or spreads an infectious disease while on the
hospital's premises during a qualified period of disaster, except
where intentional misconduct or gross negligence by the hospital is
shown.
(f) This section may not be construed as requiring a
hospital to:
(1) provide a specific type of personal protective
equipment to a visitor to the hospital; or
(2) allow in-person visitation with a patient
receiving care or treatment at the hospital if the patient's
attending physician determines that in-person visitation with that
patient may lead to the transmission of an infectious agent that
poses a serious community health risk.
(g) A determination made by a patient's attending physician
under Subsection (f)(2) is valid for not more than five days after
the date the determination is made unless renewed by the physician.
(h) If a visitor to a hospital is denied in-person
visitation with a patient receiving care or treatment at a hospital
because of a determination made by the patient's attending
physician under Subsection (f)(2), the hospital shall:
(1) provide each day a detailed update of the patient's
condition to the visitor, a family representative of the patient,
or the person who is the patient's agent regarding the patient's
condition under a power of attorney; and
(2) notify the person who receives the daily update
required under Subdivision (1) of the date and time at which the
patient will be discharged from the hospital.
(i) In the event of a conflict between this section and any
provision of a qualifying official disaster order, this section
prevails.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.