H.B. No. 2211
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.
(4) "Religious counselor" means an individual acting
substantially in a pastoral or religious capacity to provide
spiritual counsel to other individuals.
(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 or remove from the hospital's
premises 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, at a minimum, complies
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, neither a hospital nor a
physician providing health care services on the hospital's premises
is subject to civil or criminal liability or an administrative
penalty if a visitor contracts an infectious disease while on the
hospital's premises during a qualifying period of disaster or, in
connection with a visit to the hospital, spreads an infectious
disease to any other individual, except where intentional
misconduct or gross negligence by the hospital or the physician is
shown. A physician who in good faith takes, or fails to take, an
action under this section is not subject to civil or criminal
liability or disciplinary action for the physician's action or
failure to act under this section.
(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 an 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 an attending physician under
Subsection (f)(2) is valid for not more than five days after the
date the determination is made unless renewed by an attending
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 an attending physician under
Subsection (f)(2), the hospital shall:
(1) provide each day a written or oral update of the
patient's condition to the visitor if the visitor:
(A) is authorized by the patient to receive
relevant health information regarding the patient;
(B) has authority to receive the patient's health
information under an advance directive or medical power of
attorney; or
(C) is otherwise the patient's surrogate
decision-maker regarding the patient's health care needs under
hospital policy and other applicable law; and
(2) notify the person who receives the daily update
required under Subdivision (1) of the estimated date and time at
which the patient will be discharged from the hospital.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
hospital may not prohibit in-person visitation by a religious
counselor with a patient who is receiving care or treatment at the
hospital and who is seriously ill or dying for a reason other than
the religious counselor's failure to comply with a requirement
described by Subsection (c)(2).
(j) In the event of a conflict between this section and any
provision of a qualifying official disaster order, this section
prevails.
(k) This section does not create a cause of action against a
hospital or physician.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2211 was passed by the House on April
16, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 5, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2211 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 1,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2211 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor