NY State Senate Bill 2023-S6347

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to health
Apr 17, 2023	referred to health

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §2831, Pub Health L

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the "safer health care facility construction act"; requires the commissioner of health to adopt infection control risk assessment (ICRA) standards to reduce the risk from infection in all health care facilities; requires all construction work performed on a new health care facility and on the expansion of an existing health care facility to be compliant with ICRA standards; requires people performing construction work on a health care facility be certified in compliance with ICRA standards.

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6347

SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the
"safer health care facility construction act"

 
PURPOSE:

Enacts the "safer healthcare facility construction act"

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 and 2 provides for the title, legislative findings and intent.

Section 3 adds a new section 2831 of the public health law to create
Infection Control. Risk Assessment (ICRA) standards by which all
construction workers who work on an existing or new healthcare facility
shall have to comply. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations that
will include the development of a certification process to ensure
compliance with ICRA standards. This section also creates a civil penal-

ty for non-compliance that can be enforced by the State Attorney Gener-
al.

Section 4 reflects the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, New York State has taken admirable
steps to advance safety for patients and health care workers through
enacting safe staffing reforms for hospitals and nursing homes along
with passing the New York State Health and Essential Rights (NY HERO)
Act to help protect the broader workforce.

Approximately 2 million Americans suffer with healthcare-associated
infections (HAls) in the United States, and nearly 90,000 die annually.
The overall direct cost of HAls to hospitals ranges from $28 billion to
$45 billion annually.

Adopting Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) standards when health
care facilities are being constructed, renovated, or being maintained is
the next step in advancing both patient and worker safety for New York-
ers. ICRA is a systematic process that helps to determine the level of
risk to patients and defines key controls to reduce health risks to
patients, visitors, and workers. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) recommends adopting ICRA protocols in construction,
renovation, remediation, repair, and demolition for environmental
infection control in health care facilities.

When health care facilities are being constructed, renovated, or being
maintained, ICRA is becoming more of the normal process to ensure that
there is vital communication between healthcare workers and construction
personnel to protect patients. Leading healthcare organizations includ-
ing the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, and Mass General Hospital
have embraced the adoption of ICRA protocols in their healthcare facili-
ties. Many of New York's leading healthcare facilities have also worked
to implement ICRA including Albany Medical Center, Buffalo General,

Saint Peter's, United Health Services, the University of Rochester, and
Westchester Medical Center.

Improved communication between health care workers and construction
personnel has demonstrated better outcomes including better compliance
with infection control healthcare construction standards, more efficient
use of time for project completion, and a safer, cleaner, and dust-free
healthcare environment during all the various phases of construction.

Above all ICRA is a proven tool to reduce infections and advance patient
safety and there are common templates available from leading organiza-
tions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), American
Institute of Architects (AIA), and the American Society of Healthcare
Engineering (ASHE).

ICRA is a common-sense and cost-effective set of best practices that
allow for better communication between construction personnel and health
care workers that will save money, save lives, and promote a culture of
enhanced safety for patients, visitors, health care workers, and
construction personnel.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a law.

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6347
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBB  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health  law,  in  relation  to  enacting  the
   "safer health care facility construction act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "safer health care facility construction act".
   §  2.  Legislative  findings  and  intent.  The legislature finds that
 adopting infection control risk assessment (ICRA) standards for environ-
 mental infection control in health care facilities  is  a  long-standing
 recommendation  of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
 The legislature further finds that  the  CDC  is  the  leading  national
 organization in being a science-based, data driven, service organization
 that  is  charged with protecting the public health. Leading health care
 organizations such as the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo  Clinic,  and  Mass
 General  Hospital  have  all  embraced the adoption of ICRA standards in
 their health care facilities. Many of New  York's  leading  health  care
 facilities  have  also  worked  to  implement  ICRA  standards including
 Buffalo General, the University of  Rochester,  Albany  Medical  Center,
 Saint  Peter's,  United Health Services, and Westchester Medical Center.
 Leading health care facilities both in New York  state  and  around  the
 nation have adopted ICRA standards to confront the danger of health care
 associated  infections.  On any given day, the CDC estimates that one in
 thirty-one hospital patients has a  health  care  associated  infection.
 These  infections  have  direct  medical  costs of at least twenty-eight
 billion dollars annually. They also account  for  an  additional  twelve
 billion  dollars  in costs to society from early deaths and lost produc-
 tivity. The legislature has recognized the need for enhanced patient and
 worker safety having passed legislation to enact safe staffing levels in
 hospitals and nursing homes. Additionally, the legislature  also  passed
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10572-03-3

 S. 6347                             2
 
 the  New  York  health and essential rights (NY HERO) act to protect New
 Yorkers from airborne infectious diseases.  Therefore,  the  legislature
 finds and declares that it should be the policy of the state of New York
 to  require  all  new construction, renovation, remediation, repair, and
 demolition projects in health care facilities  regulated  by  the  state
 department  of  health  to  use ICRA standards to save lives by reducing
 health care associated infections and to protect patients, visitors, and
 workers.
   § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2831  to
 read as follows:
   §  2831. INFECTION CONTROL RISK ASSESSMENT. 1. (A) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY
 OTHER LAW OR RULE TO THE CONTRARY,  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL  PROMULGATE
 RULES  AND  REGULATIONS,  WHICH SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE "INFECTION CONTROL
 RISK ASSESSMENT" OR "ICRA" STANDARDS, TO REDUCE THE RISK FROM  INFECTION
 IN  ALL  HEALTH CARE FACILITIES, INCLUDING HOSPITALS, NURSING HOMES, AND
 RESIDENTIAL HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AS DEFINED  IN  SECTION  TWENTY-EIGHT
 HUNDRED  ONE  OF  THIS  ARTICLE,  LICENSED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE. THE
 STANDARDS SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO,  MINIMUM  STANDARDS  FOR
 THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, MAINTENANCE, AND INSPECTION OF NEW
 AND  EXISTING  HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AND MINIMUM TRAINING STANDARDS FOR
 PERSONS PERFORMING CONSTRUCTION WORK  ON  HEALTH  CARE  FACILITIES.  THE
 COMMISSIONER IS AUTHORIZED TO ADOPT BY REFERENCE, WITH OR WITHOUT AMEND-
 MENT,  ANY  CODE OR STANDARD ISSUED BY A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ORGANIZA-
 TION UPON A FINDING THAT ADOPTION OF THE CODE OR STANDARD WOULD  PROMOTE
 THE PURPOSES OF ICRA STANDARDS.
   (B)  ALL CONSTRUCTION WORK PERFORMED ON A NEW HEALTH CARE FACILITY AND
 ON THE EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING HEALTH CARE FACILITY SHALL BE  COMPLIANT
 WITH  ICRA  STANDARDS. THE LICENSURE APPLICATION FOR A NEWLY CONSTRUCTED
 OR AN EXPANDED HEALTH CARE FACILITY SHALL INCLUDE A COPY  OF  A  CERTIF-
 ICATE  ISSUED  BY  THE  MUNICIPALITY  IN  WHICH  THE  FACILITY  HAS BEEN
 CONSTRUCTED INDICATING THAT THE FACILITY IS COMPLIANT WITH  ICRA  STAND-
 ARDS.
   (C)  A  PERSON  SHALL  NOT  PERFORM CONSTRUCTION WORK ON A HEALTH CARE
 FACILITY UNLESS SUCH PERSON IS CERTIFIED BY THE COMMISSIONER AS PROVIDED
 IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
   (D) ICRA STANDARDS SHALL BE DEEMED TO FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS  OF  10
 NYCRR 405.11 RELATED TO INFECTION CONTROL.
   2.  (A)  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL ESTABLISH A CERTIFICATION PROGRAM TO
 ASSURE THE COMPETENCY OF PERSONS  TO  PERFORM  CONSTRUCTION  WORK  ON  A
 HEALTH CARE FACILITY IN COMPLIANCE WITH ICRA STANDARDS.
   (B)  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL  CERTIFY  A  PERSON  WHO  SATISFACTORILY
 COMPLETES THE CERTIFICATION TRAINING COURSE AND MEETS ANY OTHER REQUIRE-
 MENTS FOR CERTIFICATION THAT MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
   (C) A CERTIFICATION SHALL BE VALID FOR A PERIOD  NOT  TO  EXCEED  FOUR
 YEARS AND SHALL BE NON-TRANSFERABLE. IT SHALL BE CARRIED UPON THE PERSON
 WHILE PERFORMING CONSTRUCTION WORK ON A HEALTH CARE FACILITY.
   (D) A PERSON MAY APPLY FOR RECERTIFICATION DURING THE NINETY DAY PERI-
 OD  BEFORE  THE  CERTIFICATION  EXPIRATION DATE OR THE NINETY DAY PERIOD
 AFTER THE CERTIFICATION  EXPIRATION  DATE;  EXCEPT  THAT  A  PERSON  WHO
 APPLIES  AFTER  THE  CERTIFICATION EXPIRATION DATE SHALL NOT PERFORM ANY
 SERVICES FOR WHICH CERTIFICATION IS REQUIRED UNTIL THE CERTIFICATION  IS
 RENEWED.  IF  A CERTIFICATION HAS EXPIRED FOR MORE THAN NINETY DAYS, THE
 PERSON SHALL BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A NEW CERTIFICATION.
   3. IN ADDITION TO ANY OTHER REMEDY PROVIDED BY LAW,  THE  COMMISSIONER
 MAY  IMPOSE  A CIVIL PENALTY PER VIOLATION FOR NON-COMPLIANCE RELATED TO
 SUBDIVISIONS ONE AND TWO OF THIS SECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH  THE  UNITED
 S. 6347                             3
 
 STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
 PENALTIES, RECOVERABLE IN AN ACTION BY THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
   §  4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
 effective date.

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Senate Bill S6347

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S6347

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Sponsored By

Lea Webb

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S6347 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments