ASSEMBLY HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 5527
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 6, 2019
The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5527.
As amended, this bill provides that the Department of Health (DOH) is to require certain long-term care facilities to submit outbreak response plans.
Under the bill, the DOH is to require long-term care facilities to develop and submit to the DOH an outbreak response plan within 180 days after the bill’s effective date that is developed in consultation with the facility’s infection control committee, which plan is to include, but is not to be limited to: (1) a protocol for isolating and cohorting infected and at-risk patients in the event of an outbreak of a contagious disease until the cessation of the outbreak; (2) clear policies for the notification of residents, residents’ families, visitors, and staff in the event of an outbreak of a contagious disease at a facility; (3) information on the availability of laboratory testing, protocols for assessing whether facility visitors are ill, protocols to require ill staff to not present at the facility for work duties, and processes for implementing evidence-based outbreak response measures; (4) policies to meet staffing, training, and facility demands during an infectious disease outbreak to successfully implement the outbreak response plan, including either employing on a full-time or part-time basis, or contracting with on a consultative basis, an individual certified by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, and a physician who has completed an infectious disease fellowship; (5) policies to conduct routine monitoring of residents and staff to quickly identify signs of a communicable disease that could develop into an outbreak; and (6) policies for reporting outbreaks to public health officials in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Each long term care facility is to notify the DOH on an annual basis of any material changes or updates to its outbreak response plan, and the DOH is to, within 180 days of the submission of the outbreak plan, review the plan and ensure that all criteria are satisfied as set forth in this bill.
The bill provides that the DOH is to develop and implement procedures as are necessary for the submission of the outbreak response plans required under the bill.
Under the bill, the DOH is to require a long-term care facility to assign to its infection control committee: (1) an individual who is a physician that has completed an infectious disease fellowship, and (2) an individual designated as the infection control coordinator, who has education, training, completed course work, or experience in infection control or epidemiology, including certification by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology. The infection control committee is to meet on at least a quarterly basis and both individuals assigned pursuant to the bill’s provisions are to attend at least half of the meetings held by the infection control committee. If necessary, the DOH is authorized to temporarily remove licensing requirements to permit long-term care facilities to utilize ancillary space, such as space normally reserved for dining or staff purposes, to assist in the effort to cohort residents in the event of an outbreak.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
The committee amendments define the terms “cohorting” “and isolating,” remove provisions of the bill regarding certificates of need, and make various technical changes, including citation and usage.
The amendments provide that each long term care facility is to notify the DOH on an annual basis of any material changes or updates to its outbreak response plan, and the DOH is to, within 180 days of the submission of the outbreak plan, review the plan and ensure that all criteria are satisfied as set forth in this bill. The amendments provide that the infection control committee is to meet on at least a quarterly basis. Finally, the amendments remove the term “ventilator-dependent” from the bill.