By: West S.B. No. 660
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the installation of bollards or another safety barrier
adjacent to certain hospital emergency rooms.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 311, Health
and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. EMERGENCY SERVICES; EMERGENCY ROOMS
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 311, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 311.025 to read as follows:
Sec. 311.025. EMERGENCY ROOM CRASH BARRIERS REQUIRED AT
CERTAIN HOSPITALS. (a) In this section, "hospital" means a
hospital licensed under Chapter 241, except that the term does not
include a hospital that:
(1) is located in a county with a population of 68,750
or less; or
(2) has been designated by the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services as a critical access hospital, rural referral
center, or sole community hospital and:
(A) is not located in a metropolitan statistical
area; or
(B) if the hospital has 100 or fewer beds, is
located in a metropolitan statistical area.
(b) If a hospital maintains an emergency room located near
an area with vehicular traffic, the hospital shall install and
maintain crash-rated bollards or another similar safety barrier
adjacent to the emergency room in a manner likely to prevent a motor
vehicle from crashing into the emergency room.
(c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
this section.
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act but not later than December 1, 2025, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules as required by Section 311.025(c), Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act.
(b) A hospital to which Section 311.025, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, applies:
(1) is not required to comply with the requirements of
that section until January 1, 2026; and
(2) is not required to reinstall or install additional
bollards or safety barriers if the hospital has, before the
effective date of this Act, installed crash-rated bollards or
another similar safety barrier adjacent to the hospital's emergency
room.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.