Senate Bill S8837

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8837REVISED 3/19/24

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to temporary services
provided by "health care personnel"

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

To clarify the use of temporary services within the definition of
healthcare workforce personnel used in the context of the temporary
staffing registry.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF BILL:

This bill amends section 2999-ii (4.) of the public health law to clari-
fy within the definition of "'Health care personnel' that temporary
services are intended to include health care services contracted for an
initial term of less than twenty-four (24) continuous months.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

The pandemic exacerbated the state's nursing shortage resulting in an
increased reliance on the utilization of temporary nurses, which typi-
cally provide for a limited contract, within a given facility.  The
reliance on these short-term temporary contracts for healthcare person-
nel drastically increased labor costs and disrupts the continuity of
care provided to patients due to the short-term nature of the travel
nurse contracts. In response, the SFY 2023-24 budget enacted Article
29-K of the public health law to require the registration of temporary
health care services agencies with the Department of Health and report
key operational data to increase transparency into the utilization and
costs of contract labor.

For decades hospital and other health care have relied on the recruit-
ment and retention of foreign-educated healthcare professionals as an
alternative to the use of temporary nurses to address healthcare staff-
ing shortages. The use of foreign trained healthcare personnel can
provide longterm workforce solutions to facilities throughout New York
and has proven to help to stabilize unit turnover, increase patient
satisfaction, and improve safety and staff morale.

Foreign-educated healthcare professionals are placed in facilities in
New York, using international healthcare recruitment agencies that under
Article 29 are considered temporary staffing agencies. However, the
placement model used for international placements is drastically differ-
ent than the traditional domestic healthcare staffing model in that a
significant up-front investment is required to place foreign-educated
healthcare professionals in a healthcare facility where they in return
commit to work for at least 24 continuous months. Upon completion of the
24-month employment term, the individual is encouraged to become perma-
nent staff at the facility where they worked, proving a long-term
employment solution for the healthcare facility.

To protect the significant investment made, recruitment agencies use
certain contract provisions within the employment agreements with health
care personnel, and in the staffing agreements with the facilities in
which they are placed. These contract provisions allow for the recruit-
ment agency to collect damages and be reimbursed for expenses should its
health care personnel breach the employment agreement or if the health-
care facility solicits the health care personnel prior to the end of the
employment agreement's term. All contract provisions are agreed to well
before the foreign-educated healthcare professional deploys to the
United States as well as prior to them having a confirmed placement.
Furthermore, the employment agreements used are subject to the approval
of foreign governments and regulatory bodies.

It has been reported that, due to the increased risk of doing business
in New York, international recruitment agencies have redirect the pipe-
lines of foreign-educated health care personnel intended for New York
health care facilities and reassigned this personnel to other states
where their significant investments are protected.  This bill would
differentiate between the short-term contracts used for domestic travel
nurses and the long-term contracts used for international healthcare
placements, by adding clarification of "temporary services" within the
definition of health care personnel.

This will reduce the reliance on temporary travel nurses that have expo-
nentially increased costs for the healthcare system and protect the
investments made when coordinating the placement of foreign education
health care personnel within New York.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.