By: Miles, Huffman S.B. No. 1876
(In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2021; March 26, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
May 3, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 3, 2021, sent
to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1876 By: Perry
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency planning for the continued treatment and
safety of end stage renal disease facility patients.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 251, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 251.016 and 251.017 to read as
follows:
Sec. 251.016. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND CONTINGENCY
OPERATIONS PLANNING. (a) In this section and Section 251.017,
"emergency" means an incident likely to threaten the health,
welfare, or safety of end stage renal disease facility patients or
staff or the public, including a fire, equipment failure, power
outage, flood, interruption in utility service, medical emergency,
or natural or other disaster.
(b) Each end stage renal disease facility shall adopt a
written emergency preparedness and contingency operations plan to
address the provision of care during an emergency. The plan must:
(1) be updated annually and approved by the facility's
leadership each time the plan is updated;
(2) include procedures for notifying each of the
following entities as soon as practicable regarding the closure or
reduction in hours of operation of the facility due to an emergency:
(A) the department;
(B) each hospital with which the facility has a
transfer agreement;
(C) the trauma service area regional advisory
council that serves the geographic area in which the facility is
located; and
(D) each applicable local emergency management
agency;
(3) except as provided by Subsection (d), require the
facility to execute a contract with another end stage renal disease
facility located within a 100-mile radius of the facility
stipulating that the other end stage renal disease facility will
provide dialysis treatment to facility patients who are unable to
receive scheduled dialysis treatment due to the facility's closure
or reduction in hours; and
(4) include a documented patient communications plan
that includes procedures for notifying a patient when that
patient's scheduled dialysis treatment is interrupted.
(c) As part of the emergency preparedness and contingency
operations plan adopted under Subsection (b), each end stage renal
disease facility shall develop and the facility's leadership must
approve a continuity of care plan for the provision of dialysis
treatment to facility patients during an emergency. The facility
must provide a copy of the plan to each patient before providing or
scheduling dialysis treatment. The plan must include:
(1) procedures for distributing written materials to
facility patients that specifically describe the facility's
emergency preparedness and contingency operations plan adopted
under Subsection (b); and
(2) detailed procedures, based on the facility's
patient population, on the facility's contingency plans, including
transportation options, for patients to access dialysis treatment
at each end stage renal disease facility with which the facility has
an agreement or made advance preparations to ensure that the
facility's patients have the option to receive dialysis treatment.
(d) An end stage renal disease facility is not required to
contract with another end stage renal disease facility under
Subsection (b)(3) if:
(1) no other end stage renal disease facility is
located within a 100-mile radius of the facility; and
(2) the facility obtains written approval from the
department exempting the facility from that requirement.
(e) On request, an end stage renal disease facility shall
provide the facility's emergency preparedness and contingency
operations plan adopted under Subsection (b) to:
(1) the department;
(2) each hospital with which the facility has a
transfer agreement; and
(3) the trauma service area regional advisory council
that serves the geographic area in which the facility is located.
(f) Each end stage renal disease facility shall provide
annual training to facility staff on the facility's emergency
preparedness and contingency operations plan under this section.
(g) Each end stage renal disease facility shall annually
contact a local and state disaster management representative, an
emergency operations center, and a trauma service area regional
advisory council to:
(1) request comments on whether the emergency
preparedness and contingency operations plan adopted by the
facility under Subsection (b) should be modified; and
(2) ensure that local agencies, regional agencies,
state agencies, and hospitals are aware of the facility, the
facility's policy on provision of life-saving treatment, the
facility's patient population, and the anticipated number of
patients affected.
Sec. 251.017. EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR POWER AND
POTABLE WATER. (a) Each end stage renal disease facility shall
adopt an emergency contingency plan for the continuity of essential
building systems during an emergency. A plan adopted by a facility
under this subsection must meet the requirements described by
Subsection (b), (d), or (e).
(b) Unless the facility adopts a plan described by
Subsection (d) or (e), an end stage renal disease facility must
adopt an emergency contingency plan as required by Subsection (a)
under which the facility is required:
(1) to have an on-site emergency generator that:
(A) has a type 2 essential electrical
distribution system in accordance with the National Fire Protection
Association 99, Section 4.5, and the National Fire Protection
Association 110;
(B) is installed, tested, and maintained in
accordance with the National Fire Protection Association 99,
Section 4.5.4, and the National Fire Protection Association 110;
and
(C) is kept at all times not less than 10 feet
from the electrical transformer;
(2) except as provided by Subsection (c), to maintain
an on-site fuel source that contains enough fuel capacity to power
the on-site generator for not less than 24 hours, as determined by
the electrical load demand on the emergency generator for that
period;
(3) to maintain a sufficient quantity of potable water
on-site to operate the facility's water treatment system for not
less than 24 hours; and
(4) to maintain a water valve connection that allows
an outside vendor to provide potable water to operate the
facility's water treatment system.
(c) An end stage renal disease facility that adopts an
emergency contingency plan under Subsection (b) is not required to
maintain an on-site fuel source described by Subsection (b)(2) if
the facility's on-site emergency generator uses a vapor liquefied
petroleum gas system with a dedicated fuel supply.
(d) Unless the facility adopts a plan described by
Subsection (b) or (e), an end stage renal disease facility must
adopt an emergency contingency plan as required by Subsection (a)
under which the facility is required:
(1) to maintain sufficient resources to provide on
demand or to execute a contract with an outside supplier or vendor
to provide on demand:
(A) a portable emergency generator that:
(i) has an electrical transfer switch with
a plug-in device to provide emergency power for patient care areas
and complies with National Fire Protection Association 99, Section
4.5.2.2.2; and
(ii) has a water valve connection that
allows for the use of potable water to operate the facility's water
treatment system;
(B) an alternate power source for light,
including battery-powered light, that:
(i) is separate and independent from the
normal electrical power source;
(ii) is capable of providing light for not
less than one and a half hours;
(iii) is capable of providing a sufficient
amount of light to allow for the safe evacuation of the building;
and
(iv) is maintained and tested not less than
four times each year; and
(C) potable water;
(2) to implement the plan when the facility loses
electrical power due to a natural or man-made event during which the
electrical power may not be restored within 24 hours; and
(3) to contact the outside supplier or vendor with
which the facility contracts under Subdivision (1), if applicable,
not later than 36 hours after the facility loses electrical power.
(e) Unless the facility adopts a plan described by
Subsection (b) or (d), an end stage renal disease facility must
adopt an emergency contingency plan as required by Subsection (a)
under which the facility is required to execute a contract with
another end stage renal disease facility that is located within a
100-mile radius of the facility stipulating that the other end
stage renal disease facility will provide emergency contingency
care to the facility's patients. The other end stage renal disease
facility with which the facility contracts must have an alternate
power source for light, including battery-powered light, that:
(1) is separate and independent from the normal
electrical power source;
(2) is capable of providing light for not less than one
and a half hours;
(3) is capable of providing a sufficient amount of
light to allow for the safe evacuation of the building; and
(4) is maintained and tested not less than four times
each year.
SECTION 2. Section 773.112, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Consistent with rules adopted under this section, the
executive commissioner by rule shall authorize, during a declared
disaster, the emergency transfer of a dialysis patient from the
patient's location directly to an outpatient end stage renal
disease facility. For purposes of this subsection:
(1) "Disaster" has the meaning assigned by Section
418.004, Government Code. The term includes a disaster declared
by:
(A) the president of the United States under the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.); and
(B) the governor under Section 418.014,
Government Code.
(2) "End stage renal disease facility" has the meaning
assigned by Section 251.001.
SECTION 3. Sections 38.072(a) and (b), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Assisted living facility" has the meaning
assigned by Section 247.002, Health and Safety Code.
(2) "End stage renal disease facility" has the meaning
assigned by Section 251.001, Health and Safety Code.
(3) "Extended power outage" has the meaning assigned
by Section 13.1395, Water Code.
(4) [(3)] "Hospice services" has the meaning assigned
by Section 142.001, Health and Safety Code.
(5) [(4)] "Nursing facility" has the meaning assigned
by Section 242.301, Health and Safety Code.
(b) The commission by rule shall require an electric utility
to give to the following the same priority that it gives to a
hospital in the utility's emergency operations plan for restoring
power after an extended power outage:
(1) a nursing facility;
(2) an assisted living facility; [and]
(3) an end stage renal disease facility; and
(4) a facility that provides hospice services.
SECTION 4. Section 13.1395, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) An emergency preparedness plan submitted under
Subsection (b) may provide for the prioritization of water
restoration to an end stage renal disease facility, as that term is
defined by Section 251.001, Health and Safety Code, in the same
manner as an affected utility restores service to a hospital
following an extended power outage. The affected utility must
restore the service in accordance with:
(1) the facility's needs;
(2) the affected community's needs; and
(3) the characteristics of the geographic area in
which water is to be restored.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act:
(1) each end stage renal disease facility shall
develop and implement the plans required under Sections 251.016 and
251.017, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act;
(2) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section
773.112(d), Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act; and
(3) the Public Utility Commission of Texas shall adopt
the rules required by Section 38.072, Utilities Code, as amended by
this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
* * * * *