NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8843

Senate Bill S8843

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

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
Apr 19, 2024	advanced to third reading
Apr 18, 2024	2nd report cal.
Apr 17, 2024	1st report cal.837
Mar 20, 2024	referred to health

Votes

- Apr 16, 2024 - Health Committee Vote
  S8843
  
  12
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  2
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Health Committee Vote: Apr 16, 2024
      
      aye (12)
      
      Ashby
      
      Brouk
      
      Felder
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Mannion
      
      Martins
      
      May
      
      Myrie
      
      Rivera
      
      Salazar
      
      Thomas
      
      Webb
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      Rhoads
      
      Stec
      
      excused (1)
      
      Gallivan

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2023-S8843 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1633
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §2801-g, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: A6417
2017-2018: A1015
2019-2020: A2986
2021-2022: A2251

2023-S8843 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care.

2023-S8843 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8843

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to providing public
notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close
entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance
use care

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital
seeks to either close entirely or close a unit that provides emergency,
maternity, mental health, or substance use care.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one names the act as the "Local Input in Community Healthcare
Act"

Section two amends section 2801-g of the public health law (PHL) as it

relates to a community forum on hospital closure, to have community
notice and engagement on hospital closures and require general hospitals
to provide written notification of proposed closure of a general hospi-
tal or unit that offers emergency, maternity, mental health, or
substance use services to the Department of Health (DOH) no later than
270 days before the proposed closure date, if the proposed closure will
result in the reduction or unavailability of such services in the the
hospital's service area or county.

Subdivision two is amended to require a general hospital that seeks to
close entirely or seeks to close one or more units must submit an appli-
cation that requires review and approval by the Public Health and Health
Planning Council, or successor entity. The application would be submit-
ted at least 210 days before the proposed closure. No cessation, trans-
fer, pause, or limitation of service may be carried out without prior
written approval by the Commissioner of Health (COH).

A new subdivision three is added to extend the period that the COH is
required to hold a public community forum to obtain public input
concerning the anticipated impact of the hospital or unit's closure from
no later than 30 days after to 150 days before the proposed closure.

Subdivision four, is amended to require the commissioner to make public-
ly available no later than 30 days prior to a community forum the
proposed closure plan submitted by the health facility, the impact on
access to health care services to the surrounding community and informa-
tion on specific measures DOH will take and any other recommendations to
address the impact of the closure on health care services, including but
not limited to ensuring services being eliminated are still accessible
to medicaid, or individuals insured by publicly subsidized plans, and
uninsured residents in the surrounding facilities.

Subdivision 3, now re-numbered to five, amends the announcement of the
community forum on the proposed closure of a hospital or unit to 14 days
prior, instead of 10 days prior, to the date that the community forum
will be held and ensures the forum is held at a proper time and accessi-
ble to the impacted community virtually and physically.
Subdivision 4 is re-numbered to subsection 6.

Adds a new subdivision 7 to require hospitals to notify health care
providers, labor unions, local, state, and federal legislative represen-
tatives, the office of the attorney general, their county executive,
mayor, town supervisor, and in NYC, the borough president and community
board for every district that the hospital is located in, no later than
thirty days prior to the community forum.

Adds a new subdivision 8 to require a hospital to submit a revised
closure plan to DOH addressing concerns raised during the community
forum no later than 30 days after the forum and ensure DOH makes the
revised plan publicly available on their website no later than 45 days
after the community forum.

Adds a new subdivision 9 requiring an annual report to the legislature
by the department on a list of general hospitals or units of general
hospitals that notify the department of their intent to close.

Section three provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Across New York State, there have been several incidents when hospitals
summarily announce planned closures of maternity services, emergency
departments, mental health and substance use services, and even entire
hospitals without any prior communication or meaningful engagement with
the local communities they serve. Over the last decade, 10 hospitals in
New York State closed their maternity services (in Columbia, Franklin,
Lewis, New York, Niagara, Ontario, Otsego, St. Lawrence and Wyoming
counties). So far in 2024, two more maternity service closures are pend-
ing in Rensselaer and Suffolk counties. Two major closings of entire
hospitals are moving forward in lower Manhattan and in Central Brooklyn,
after last year's closures of another Brooklyn hospital and a hospital
in Eastern Niagara County. More closures are likely; a recent study by
the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found that there
are 27 rural hospitals in New York State at risk of closing, amounting
to 53 percent of all rural hospitals in the state.

(source:https://www.beckershospitalreview.com
/finance/646-hospitals-at-risk- of-closure-rankedby-state.html)

Closures of any of these services, or of the entire hospital, can have a
devastating impact on the communities that have depended on these facil-
ities for care. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City in early
2020, one of the boroughs most affected (Queens) was ill prepared
because of hospital closings in that borough. Elmhurst Hospital, a
public hospital, was forced to shoulder more than its fair share of
COVID-19 cases because of the closures of St. John's Queens Hospital,
Mary Immaculate Hospital and Parkway Hospital in 2009.

(source:  https://qns.com/2020/03/demise-of-three-queens-hospitals-
11-years-ago-adds-to-pain- of-boroug hs-coronavirus-tragedies/)

Closures of hospital maternity services are leaving entire counties
without any nearby access to labor and delivery, causing pregnant
patients to have to travel long distances to the nearest hospital with
maternal health services. The proposed closure of the Burdett Birth
Center in Troy, for example, would leave Rensselaer County as the larg-
est county in the state without maternity care, and also affect pregnant
people in adjacent rural Washington and Columbia counties, which lack
their own maternity services. The March of Dimes warns that the further
a pregnant person has to travel to obtain maternity care, the greater
the chances that there will be a negative outcome. There is a higher
risk for complications and death for both mothers and babies in communi-
ties that do not have maternity care services, according to the Center
for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

Closures of hospital psychiatric services were numerous during the
pandemic, with more than two dozen hospitals closing more than 500
psychiatric beds, and the Hochul administration has been working to
bring those back into service, citing a severe shortage of short-term
beds for patients suffering psychiatric crises.

(Source: htttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/nyregions- hochul-mental-
health.html)

Despite the serious impact of such closures on communities, especially
those where people are already medically-underserved and not easily able
to travel elsewhere for care, New York State Public Health Law does not
adequately require hospitals to engage the public and work to address
their concerns. Too little (if any) advance notice is given to the
community and key stakeholders, and under the law, a public hearing is
not required until 30 days after a hospital closes (although recent
state Department of Health guidance to hospitals has required an advance
hearing).

While the state's new Health Equity Impact Assessment law is helping to
improve community engagement, it does not apply to closings of entire
hospitals because those are carried out through simple notice to the
Department and a closure plan, not a Certificate of Need application.
Moreover, none of these types of closures (the entire hospital, or
maternity, emergency or mental health services) requires a full review
Certificate of Need that would go before the state Public Health and
Health Planning Council for review in a public meeting at which communi-
ty members could make comments.

This proposed legislation will address these gaps in the state's review
of proposed hospital and hospital unit closures by ensuring adequate
advance notice to the public, public disclosure of hospital closing
plans, a community forum held well in advance of the closure date to
allow public comment on the proposed closure plan, and preparation of a
final closure plan that addresses concerns raised at the community
forum.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE STORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective on the sixtieth day after it shall have become law, and shall
not apply to any matter subject to section 2801-g of the PHL that is
pending on the date it shall take effect.

2023-S8843 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8843
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 20, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  RIVERA, KAVANAGH, GONZALEZ, MYRIE, HINCHEY, WEBB,
   KRUEGER -- 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 providing public
   notice and public engagement when a general hospital  seeks  to  close
   entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance
   use care
 
   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 "local input in community healthcare act".
   § 2.  Section 2801-g of the public health law, as added by chapter 541
 of  the  laws  of 2010, subdivision 4 as added by section 3 of part E of
 chapter 57 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   § 2801-g. Community [forum] NOTICE AND ENGAGEMENT on hospital closure.
 1. WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF A PROPOSED CLOSURE OF A GENERAL  HOSPITAL  OR
 UNIT  OF  A  GENERAL HOSPITAL MUST BE PROVIDED TO THE DEPARTMENT AND ALL
 PARTIES LISTED IN SUBDIVISION SEVEN OF THIS SECTION NO  LATER  THAN  TWO
 HUNDRED  SEVENTY  DAYS  PRIOR  TO THE PROPOSED CLOSURE DATE.  AS USED IN
 THIS SECTION, "UNIT" MEANS A PORTION OF A GENERAL HOSPITAL  THAT  OFFERS
 EMERGENCY,  MATERNITY,  AND  MENTAL  HEALTH  OR  SUBSTANCE USE SERVICES.
 "UNIT" SHALL ALSO MEAN ANY  OTHER  HOSPITAL  SERVICE  OR  HEALTH-RELATED
 SERVICE  OF  A  HOSPITAL,  INCLUDING  SPECIALTY  CARE  SERVICES,  IF THE
 PROPOSED CLOSURE WILL RESULT IN THE REDUCTION OR UNAVAILABILITY OF  SUCH
 SERVICES IN THE HOSPITAL'S SERVICE AREA OR COUNTY WHERE IT IS LOCATED.
   2.  A  GENERAL  HOSPITAL  THAT SEEKS TO CLOSE ENTIRELY OR CLOSE ONE OR
 MORE UNITS SHALL SUBMIT AN APPLICATION THAT REQUIRES REVIEW AND APPROVAL
 BY THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH PLANNING COUNCIL, OR ANY SUCCESSOR ENTI-
 TY. THE APPLICATION FOR THE CLOSURE SHALL INCLUDE A HEALTH EQUITY IMPACT
 ASSESSMENT, AS DEFINED BY SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT  HUNDRED  TWO-B  OF  THIS
 ARTICLE, AND A PROPOSED CLOSURE PLAN. THE APPLICATION SHALL BE SUBMITTED
 AT LEAST TWO HUNDRED TEN DAYS BEFORE THE PROPOSED CLOSURE. NO CESSATION,
 PAUSE,  TRANSFER,  OR  LIMITATION  OF SERVICE MAY BE CARRIED OUT WITHOUT
 PRIOR WRITTEN APPROVAL BY THE COMMISSIONER. AS  USED  IN  THIS  SECTION,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14019-09-4
 S. 8843                             2

 "TRANSFER  OF  SERVICES" SHALL INCLUDE CONVERSION OF SERVICES FROM INPA-
 TIENT TO OUTPATIENT SERVICES, THE MOVING OF SERVICES  TO  OTHER  FACILI-
 TIES,  OR THE TRANSFER OF PERSONNEL THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE A REDUCTION OR
 UNAVAILABILITY OF SERVICES.
   3.  No later than [thirty] ONE HUNDRED FIFTY days [after] PRIOR TO the
 PROPOSED closure of a general hospital OR A UNIT OF A GENERAL  HOSPITAL,
 the  commissioner shall hold a public community forum for the purpose of
 obtaining public input concerning the anticipated impact of the  general
 hospital's  OR  GENERAL HOSPITAL UNIT'S closure on access to health care
 services by members of the  surrounding  community,  including  but  not
 limited to recipients of medical assistance for needy persons, the unin-
 sured, and MEDICALLY underserved populations AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (D)
 OF  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  SECTION  TWENTY-EIGHT  HUNDRED  TWO-B  OF THIS
 ARTICLE, and  options  and  proposals  to  ameliorate  such  anticipated
 impact.  The  commissioner  shall  afford community members, health care
 providers, labor unions, payers, businesses and consumers  a  reasonable
 opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community forum.
   [2.]  4.  No  later  than [sixty] THIRTY days [after] BEFORE holding a
 community forum pursuant to subdivision [one] THREE of this section, the
 commissioner shall make available to  the  public  on  the  department's
 website information regarding:
   (a) THE PROPOSED CLOSURE PLAN SUBMITTED BY THE HEALTH FACILITY;
   (B) the anticipated impact of the general hospital's closure OR UNIT'S
 CLOSURE  on access to health care services by members of the surrounding
 community, including but not limited to recipients of medical assistance
 for needy persons, the uninsured, and underserved populations;
   [(b)] (C) specific measures the  department  and  other  parties  have
 taken  or  will take to ameliorate such anticipated impact INCLUDING BUT
 NOT LIMITED TO ENSURING THAT THE SERVICES  TO  BE  ELIMINATED  WOULD  BE
 AVAILABLE  TO  MEDICAID,  OR INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE INSURED BY A PUBLICLY-
 SUBSIDIZED PLAN AND UNINSURED PATIENTS AT THE SURROUNDING  AREA  FACILI-
 TIES THAT ARE TAKING NEW PATIENTS; and
   [(c)]  (D) any further recommendations regarding access to health care
 services in communities impacted by the general  hospital's  closure  OR
 UNIT'S CLOSURE.
   [3.]  5. A community forum conducted pursuant to this section shall be
 held at a location within a reasonable proximity to the general hospital
 OR UNIT subject to THE PROPOSED closure, and shall be announced no  less
 than [ten] FOURTEEN days prior to the date of such community forum. SUCH
 FORUM  SHALL  BE HELD AT A PROPER TIME AND BE ACCESSIBLE TO THE IMPACTED
 COMMUNITY VIRTUALLY AND PHYSICALLY.
   [4.] 6. At least thirty days prior to a general hospital  applying  to
 the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services to convert from a
 general  hospital with inpatients to a rural emergency hospital under 42
 USC 1395x(kkk), or successor provisions,  such  GENERAL  hospital  shall
 hold  a public community forum for the purpose of obtaining public input
 concerning the anticipated impact of the GENERAL hospital's  closure  of
 inpatient  units, including but not limited to, the impact on recipients
 of medical assistance for needy  persons,  the  uninsured,  people  with
 disabilities,  and  medically  underserved  populations, and options and
 proposals to ameliorate such anticipated impact.
   [The] 7. NO LATER THAN THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO A  COMMUNITY  FORUM  UNDER
 THIS  SECTION,  THE GENERAL hospital shall notify health care providers,
 labor unions, the [congressional] LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL  LEGISLATIVE
 representative,  THE  OFFICE  OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE COUNTY EXECU-
 TIVE, MAYOR, TOWN SUPERVISOR, AND IN THE CASE OF THE CITY OF  NEW  YORK,
 S. 8843                             3
 
 THE  BOROUGH  PRESIDENT, AND COMMUNITY BOARD for [the] EVERY district in
 which the [facility] GENERAL HOSPITAL AND UNIT is OR ARE  located,  [the
 county executive of the county in which the facility is located, and the
 state senator and assembly member representing the area within which the
 facility  is  located]  of the date, time, and location of the community
 forum. The GENERAL hospital  shall  afford  all  public  participants  a
 reasonable opportunity to speak about relevant matters at such community
 forum.  Prior  to  any  community  forum and as soon as practicable, the
 GENERAL hospital shall be required to:
   (a) notify the office of mental  health  and  the  local  director  of
 community  services  in  the event such general hospital has psychiatric
 inpatient beds licensed under article thirty-one of the  mental  hygiene
 law  or  designated  pursuant to section 9.39 of the mental hygiene law,
 and
   (b) notify the office of addiction services and supports in the  event
 such  general  hospital  has  inpatient substance use disorder treatment
 programs or inpatient chemical dependence  treatment  programs  licensed
 under  article  thirty-two  of  the mental hygiene law. The commissioner
 shall also accept comments submitted in writing at such public forum and
 by mail OR ELECTRONIC MAIL within  at  least  two  weeks  following  the
 community forum.
   8.  NO  LATER  THAN THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE COMMUNITY FORUM, THE GENERAL
 HOSPITAL SHALL SUBMIT A REVISED CLOSURE PLAN TO THE DEPARTMENT  ADDRESS-
 ING  CONCERNS  RAISED  BY  COMMUNITY  STAKEHOLDERS  DURING THE COMMUNITY
 FORUM. THE GENERAL HOSPITAL AND THE DEPARTMENT SHALL  MAKE  THE  REVISED
 CLOSURE  PLAN  PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON THEIR WEBSITES NO LATER THAN FORTY-
 FIVE DAYS AFTER THE COMMUNITY FORUM.
   9. NO LATER THAN JANUARY FIRST TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE AND   ANNUALLY
 THEREAFTER,  THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IDENTIFYING THE GENERAL HOSPITAL  OR  UNIT
 OF A GENERAL HOSPITAL THAT HAS PROVIDED WRITTEN NOTICE OF A CLOSURE, THE
 PROPOSED CLOSURE DATE AND THE SERVICES IMPACTED BY THE PROPOSED CLOSURE.
 SUCH REPORT SHALL BE PROVIDED IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT AND SHALL BE DISTRIB-
 UTED  TO  THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT AND MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE, THE
 SPEAKER AND MINORITY LEADER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE  CHAIR  OF  THE  SENATE
 STANDING  COMMITTEE  ON  HEALTH,  AND  THE  CHAIR OF THE ASSEMBLY HEALTH
 COMMITTEE.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have  become a law, and shall not apply to any matter subject to section
 2801-g of the public health law that is pending on  the  date  it  shall
 take effect.

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