HB 1439 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
16Mar2022... 1029h
2022 SESSION
22-2492
05/11
HOUSE BILL 1439
AN ACT relative to hospital visitation policies.
SPONSORS: Rep. Rice, Hills. 37; Rep. Layon, Rock. 6; Rep. Aron, Sull. 7; Rep. Notter, Hills. 21; Rep. Roy, Rock. 32; Rep. Harvey-Bolia, Belk. 4; Rep. Shaw, Hills. 16; Rep. Abbas, Rock. 8; Rep. Greene, Hills. 37; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This bill allows, with limited exception, a patient to designate a parent, spouse, family member, or other caregiver to be present while the patient receives hospital care.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
16Mar2022... 1029h 22-2492
05/11
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT relative to hospital visitation policies.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Title. Section 2 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the "No Patient Left Alone Act".
2 New Section; Residential Care and Health Facility Licensing; Presence of Parent, Spouse, or Caregiver Permitted. Amend RSA 151 by inserting after section 2-i the following new section:
151:2-j Visitation Policies; Presence of Parent, Spouse, or Caregiver Permitted.
I. Subject to paragraphs III and IV, a minor who is admitted to a health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 shall have the right to have a parent, guardian, or other person standing in loco parentis, who shall be permitted to be physically present while the minor patient is receiving hospital care.
II. Subject to paragraphs III and IV, an adult who is admitted to a hospital, residential care facility, nursing home, or rehabilitation facility, licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2, I, shall have the right to designate a spouse, family member, or caregiver who shall be permitted to be physically present while the adult patient is receiving hospital care.
III. A health care facility may establish visitation policies that limit or restrict visitation when:
(a) The presence of visitors would be medically or therapeutically contraindicated in the best clinical judgment of health care professionals;
(1) The reason for denial of a visitor for a medical or therapeutic contraindication shall be documented in the patient's medical record.
(2) Upon request the patient, or patient’s representative if the patient is incapacitated, shall be provided the reason for denial;
(b) The presence of visitors would interfere with the care of or rights of any patient;
(c) Visitors are engaging in disruptive, threatening, or violent behavior toward any staff member, patient, or other visitor; or
(d) Visitors are noncompliant with written hospital policy.
IV. A health care facility may require visitors to wear personal protective equipment provided by the facility, or provided by the visitor and approved by the facility. A health care facility may require visitors to comply with reasonable safety protocols and rules of conduct. The health care facility may revoke visitation rights for failure to comply with this section.
V. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health care facility to allow a visitor to enter an operating room, isolation room, isolation unit, behavioral health setting or other typically restricted area or to remain present during the administration of emergency care in critical situations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health care facility to allow a visitor access beyond the rooms, units or wards in which the patient the visitor is visiting is receiving care or beyond general common areas in the health care facility.
VI. The rights specified in this section shall not be terminated, suspended, or waived by the health care facility, the department of health and human services, or any governmental entity, notwithstanding declarations of emergency declared by the governor or the legislature. No health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 shall require a patient to waive the rights specified in this section.
VII. Each health care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2 shall post:
(a) Informational materials explaining the rights specified in this section on its website;
(b) The patients’ bill of rights which applies to the facility on its website and in all patient treatment rooms; and
(c) Hospital visitation policy detailing the rights and responsibilities specified in this section, and the limitations placed upon those rights by written hospital policy on its website and in all patient treatment rooms.
VIII. Unless expressly required by federal law or regulation, the department or any other state agency shall not take any action arising out of this section against a health care facility for:
(a) Giving a visitor individual access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility;
(b) Failing to protect or otherwise ensure the safety or comfort of a visitor given access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility;
(c) The acts or omissions of any visitor who is given access to a property or location controlled by the health care facility.
IX. Nothing in this section shall supersede the right of a patient who is terminally ill to have visitors pursuant to RSA 151:21, XVIII.
3 New Paragraph; Residential Care and Health Facility Licensing; Patients' Bill of Rights. Amend RSA 151:21 by inserting after paragraph XXI the following new paragraph:
XXII. The patient shall be entitled to have visitors pursuant to RSA 151:2-j.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.