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| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed December 19, 2024; February 3, 2025, |
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| 3 | + | read first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human |
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| 4 | + | Services; March 31, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable |
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| 5 | + | Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; |
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| 6 | + | March 31, 2025, sent to printer.) |
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| 7 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 8 | + | COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 660 By: Hancock |
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| 4 | 9 | | |
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| 5 | 10 | | |
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| 6 | 11 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 12 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 13 | | relating to the installation of bollards or another safety barrier |
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| 9 | 14 | | adjacent to certain hospital emergency rooms. |
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| 10 | 15 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 16 | | SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 311, Health |
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| 12 | 17 | | and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 18 | | SUBCHAPTER B. EMERGENCY SERVICES; EMERGENCY ROOMS |
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| 14 | 19 | | SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 311, Health and Safety |
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| 15 | 20 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 311.025 to read as follows: |
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| 16 | 21 | | Sec. 311.025. EMERGENCY ROOM CRASH BARRIERS REQUIRED AT |
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| 17 | 22 | | CERTAIN HOSPITALS. (a) In this section, "hospital" means a |
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| 18 | 23 | | hospital licensed under Chapter 241, except that the term does not |
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| 19 | 24 | | include a hospital that: |
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| 20 | 25 | | (1) is located in a county with a population of 68,750 |
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| 21 | 26 | | or less; or |
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| 22 | 27 | | (2) has been designated by the Centers for Medicare |
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| 23 | 28 | | and Medicaid Services as a critical access hospital, rural referral |
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| 24 | 29 | | center, or sole community hospital and: |
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| 25 | 30 | | (A) is not located in a metropolitan statistical |
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| 26 | 31 | | area; or |
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| 27 | 32 | | (B) if the hospital has 100 or fewer beds, is |
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| 28 | 33 | | located in a metropolitan statistical area. |
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| 29 | 34 | | (b) If a hospital maintains an emergency room located near |
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| 30 | 35 | | an area with vehicular traffic, the hospital shall install and |
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| 31 | 36 | | maintain crash-rated bollards or another similar safety barrier |
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| 32 | 37 | | adjacent to the emergency room in a manner likely to prevent a motor |
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| 33 | 38 | | vehicle from crashing into the emergency room. |
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| 34 | 39 | | (c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human |
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| 35 | 40 | | Services Commission shall adopt rules as necessary to implement |
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| 36 | 41 | | this section. |
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| 37 | 42 | | SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective |
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| 38 | 43 | | date of this Act but not later than December 1, 2025, the executive |
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| 39 | 44 | | commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall |
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| 40 | 45 | | adopt rules as required by Section 311.025(c), Health and Safety |
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| 41 | 46 | | Code, as added by this Act. |
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| 42 | 47 | | (b) A hospital to which Section 311.025, Health and Safety |
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| 43 | 48 | | Code, as added by this Act, applies: |
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| 44 | 49 | | (1) is not required to comply with the requirements of |
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| 45 | 50 | | that section until January 1, 2026; and |
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| 46 | 51 | | (2) is not required to reinstall or install additional |
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| 47 | 52 | | bollards or safety barriers if the hospital has, before the |
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| 48 | 53 | | effective date of this Act, installed crash-rated bollards or |
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| 49 | 54 | | another similar safety barrier adjacent to the hospital's emergency |
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| 50 | 55 | | room. |
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| 51 | 56 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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