STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 5527

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Senator VITALE)

ADOPTED:

      These Senate amendments revise the requirements for long-term care facilities to develop outbreak response plans to provide that all facilities are to develop a plan, but only facilities that provide care to ventilator-dependent residents are required to submit the plan to the Department of Health (DOH) for review.  The amendments clarify that only facilities that have established an infection control committee are required to develop a plan in consultation with that committee.  The amendments continue to require the DOH to review submitted plans, but remove a requirement that the review be completed within 180 days after the plan is submitted.

      The amendments revise the requirements for facilities that submit an outbreak response plan to the DOH to annually review the plan to additionally provide that the updated plan is to be submitted to the DOH within 30 days, and the DOH is to review the updated plan to ensure it is compliant with the  requirements of the bill.

      The amendments revise the requirement for facilities to employ or contract with both an individual certified by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology and a physician who has completed an infectious disease fellowship, to provide that this requirement only applies to facilities that provide care to ventilator-dependent residents. 

      The amendments revise the requirement for facilities to develop policies to meet staffing, training, and facility demands during an infectious disease outbreak to successfully implement the outbreak response plan to provide that this requirement only applies to facilities that provide care to ventilator-dependent residents.

      The amendments remove a provision that allowed the DOH to temporarily remove licensing requirements to allow long-term care facilities to utilize ancillary space to assist in cohorting residents in the event of an outbreak.

      The amendments add definitions of “outbreak,” “endemic level,” and “long-term care facility that provides care to ventilator-dependent residents.”

      The amendments make certain technical revisions concerning references to the Department of Health.