What's happening
This bill requires New York hospitals to meet new staffing standards set by the health department and regularly report compliance.
Why it matters
The bill empowers the NY Department of Health to set detailed rules about hospital staffing, including the skills, experience, and numbers of staff required, rather than leaving these decisions solely to hospitals. This means staffing decisions will be based on standards determined by regulators and clinical staff, potentially improving patient care and safety by ensuring adequate staff for patient needs.
Hospitals must set up internal review mechanisms to regularly assess their own staffing compliance, track incidents, and respond to staff concerns about staffing levels. This could create new avenues for frontline staff (like nurses) to voice concerns and for hospitals to proactively address potential risks to patient safety.
Public transparency is increased, as hospitals will have to post daily staffing level reports in visible areas and file annual compliance statements with both the Department of Health and the public. This makes it easier for patients, staff, and advocates to hold hospitals accountable for meeting staffing standards.
Non-compliance carries real consequences: each shift or unit that falls short of staffing standards counts as a separate violation, subjecting the hospital to state penalties and possible injunctions. This could put significant pressure on hospital management to prioritize staffing, potentially affecting hospital budgets and operations.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
New York State Department of Health
The department would have to establish hospital staffing standards addressing the qualifications and numbers of direct-care professionals and require annual compliance statements.
Hospitals
Hospitals would have to maintain staffing systems and internal reviews, post daily unit staffing levels and file annual compliance statements as a condition of their operating certificates, with each understaffed unit shift constituting a separate violation.
Registered nurses and physicians providing direct patient care
Their determinations of patient needs would guide required staffing levels, and hospitals would have to review staff concerns.
Hospital patients and their families
They would gain access to daily unit staffing reports and annual compliance statements under standards designed to ensure staffing meets patient needs.
Headline styles
Set Hospital Staffing Standards
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1180
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 6, 2017
Introduced by Sen. MARCELLINO -- 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 directing the department of health to promulgate rules establishing staffing standards for certain health care facilities, and providing methods for demonstrating compliance with such rules
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2806-c to read as follows:
§ 2806-c. Staffing standards. 1. As used in this section, the term "hospital" shall have the same meaning as defined in subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred one of this article.
2. The department shall promulgate necessary rules and regulations to establish staffing standards for hospitals. Such rules and regulations shall be designed to ensure that the classifications, skills, experience and numbers of health care professionals providing direct patient care are sufficient to meet the needs of hospital patients. Such rules and regulations shall require that each hospital:
(a) Utilizes a staffing system which provides a sufficient number of qualified staff to meet the needs of hospital patients as determined by a registered nurse or physician directly involved in patient care.
(b) Maintains an internal review mechanism that ensures compliance with the staffing system; provides for the review of incidents and staff concerns; and tracks staffing patterns, number of patients and their determined needs.
3. Beginning no later than twelve months following distribution to hospitals of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision two of this section, as a condition of continuing or obtaining its operating certificate, each hospital shall annually file with the department, and make available to the public, a statement of compliance
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05977-01-7
S. 1180 2
with such rules and regulations. The statement shall be filed in the form and manner as determined by the department.
4. Beginning no later than six months following distribution to hospitals of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision two of this section, each hospital shall daily post, in a prominent place, a report of the staffing levels in each patient care unit for that day.
5. The failure of a hospital to comply with the requirements of this section, or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant thereto, shall be deemed a violation and shall subject such hospital to the penalties and injunctions set forth in section twelve of this chapter. Each instance in which the staffing levels of any shift of any unit of a hospital fail to meet the requirements established pursuant to this section shall constitute a separate violation of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to directing the department of health to promulgate rules establishing staffing standards for certain health care facilities, and providing methods for demonstrating compliance with such rules
Purpose
Requires the health department to establish rules and regulations regarding nurse to patient ratios for certain health care facilities and monitor compliance.
Summary of provisions
Section 2 directs the department to promulgate necessary rules and regulations to establish staffing standards for hospitals. These rules and regulations will be designed to ensure that the classifications, skills, experience and numbers of health care professionals providing direct care are sufficient to meet the needs of hospital patients.
Each hospital must maintain an internal review mechanism that ensures compliance and provides for the review of incidents and staff concerns. Each hospital will annually file with department a statement of compliance.
Justification
Adequate nurse staffing is critical to ensure high quality patient care. Nurses at every level have experienced staffing problems which have added an unnecessary burden to the workplace and jeopardized the care patients receive.
This legislation directs the Department of Health to establish rules and regulations establishing an effective nurse to patient ratio for New York State hospitals. Based on these rules, hospitals will establish a policy to ensure the needs of hospital patients are met.
Legislative history
S.450 of 2015/16.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.