NY State Senate Bill 2023-S2247

Senate Bill S2247

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires hospitals and healthcare facilities providing emergency services to develop plans to provide reasonable accommodations for service animals

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to investigations and government operations
Jan 19, 2023	referred to investigations and government operations

2023-S2247 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Civil Rights Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §47-b, Civ Rts L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S7276

2023-S2247 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires hospitals and healthcare facilities which provide emergency services to develop plans to provide reasonable accommodations to house a patient's service animal until such time as they can be picked up.

2023-S2247 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S2247

SPONSOR: WEIK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to requiring certain
healthcare facilities to develop plans to provide reasonable accommo-
dations for service animals

 
PURPOSE:

To require every health care facility to have a plan in place for a
service animal if they are brought to such facility and the patient is
unavailable to be with them for a period of time.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 47-b of the civil rights law by adding a new
subdivision 8 to require each hospital or health care facility that
provides emergency services to have a plan to have a reasonable accommo-
dation for a service animal if the patient needs medical attention and
the service animal cannot be with the patient.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

If an individual has a service animal and that individual has a medical
emergency there is currently no state-mandated requirement that the
health care facility the patient is brought to provide an accommodation
for the service animal. In most instances, the service animal may remain
with the patient, however, when the patient is in surgery or some other
location that the service animal cannot be there is no mandated plan for
what to do with the service animal at a health care facility. This
legislation would require health care facilities to have plans to
provide for a reasonable accommodation for the service animal until the
earlier of the patient being reunited with their service animal or an
appropriate handler can take the service animal.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022: S7276 Investigations and Government Operations

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
120 days after it comes law.

2023-S2247 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2247
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 19, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to  requiring  certain
   healthcare  facilities to develop plans to provide reasonable accommo-
   dations for service animals

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 47-b of the civil rights law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
   8.  EACH  HOSPITAL  OR  HEALTHCARE  FACILITY  THAT  PROVIDES EMERGENCY
 SERVICES SHALL DEVELOP A PLAN TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION  FOR
 SERVICE  ANIMALS  BROUGHT  INTO SUCH FACILITY DURING AN EMERGENCY OR ANY
 TIME THAT A PATIENT NEEDS MEDICAL  TREATMENT  AND  SUCH  SERVICE  ANIMAL
 CANNOT  BE  WITH  SUCH  PATIENT.    SUCH  REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION SHALL
 INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A SPACE OR AREA TO  HOUSE  SUCH  SERVICE
 ANIMAL UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A FAMILY MEMBER, DESIGNATED PERSON, OR SERVICE
 ANIMAL AGENCY CAN COLLECT SUCH SERVICE ANIMAL OR SUCH SERVICE ANIMAL CAN
 BE REUNITED WITH THE PATIENT AT THE HOSPITAL OR HEALTHCARE FACILITY. FOR
 PURPOSES  OF  THIS  SUBDIVISION, "SERVICE ANIMAL" SHALL MEAN  ANY ANIMAL
 THAT HAS BEEN PARTNERED WITH A PERSON WHO HAS A DISABILITY AND HAS  BEEN
 TRAINED  OR  IS  BEING TRAINED, BY A QUALIFIED PERSON, TO AID OR GUIDE A
 PERSON WITH A DISABILITY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it shall have become a law.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04981-01-3

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