Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1028
       
       
        
       By Senator Cruz
       
       
       
       
       
       18-01051-22                                           20221028__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to end-stage renal disease facility
    3         emergency planning; amending s. 252.355, F.S.;
    4         requiring end-stage renal disease facilities to
    5         annually provide information to certain persons
    6         regarding special needs shelter registration
    7         procedures; requiring such facilities to assist
    8         emergency management agencies by performing specified
    9         duties; creating s. 252.3571, F.S.; requiring local
   10         emergency management agencies to identify and include
   11         in their county emergency management plans the health
   12         care facilities for which electric and water utilities
   13         must prioritize the emergency restoration of services;
   14         creating s. 381.0305, F.S.; defining terms; requiring
   15         end-stage renal disease facilities to adopt written
   16         emergency preparedness and contingency operations
   17         plans; providing requirements for such plans;
   18         requiring such facilities to provide the plans to
   19         certain entities upon request; requiring each end
   20         stage renal disease facility to develop and approve a
   21         continuity of care plan for dialysis treatment during
   22         emergencies or disasters; requiring such facilities to
   23         provide the plan to patients within a specified
   24         timeframe; providing requirements for the plan;
   25         providing an exception from certain contract
   26         requirements; requiring end-stage renal disease
   27         facility staff to undergo specified annual training;
   28         requiring specified coordination between end-stage
   29         renal disease facilities and certain entities;
   30         requiring such facilities to adopt emergency
   31         contingency plans for the continuity of essential
   32         building systems during emergencies or disasters;
   33         providing requirements for such plan; requiring the
   34         Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation
   35         with the Division of Emergency Management, to adopt
   36         rules; providing requirements for such rules;
   37         providing an effective date.
   38          
   39  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
   42  252.355, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   43         252.355 Registry of persons with special needs; notice;
   44  registration program.—
   45         (2) In order to ensure that all persons with special needs
   46  may register, the division shall develop and maintain a special
   47  needs shelter registration program. During a public health
   48  emergency in which physical distancing is necessary, as
   49  determined by the State Health Officer, the division must
   50  maintain information on special needs shelter options that
   51  mitigate the threat of the spread of infectious diseases.
   52         (b) To assist in identifying persons with special needs,
   53  home health agencies, hospices, end-stage renal disease
   54  facilities, nurse registries, home medical equipment providers,
   55  the Department of Children and Families, the Department of
   56  Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the
   57  Department of Education, the Agency for Persons with
   58  Disabilities, the Department of Elderly Affairs, and memory
   59  disorder clinics shall, and any physician licensed under chapter
   60  458 or chapter 459 and any pharmacy licensed under chapter 465
   61  may, annually provide registration information to all of their
   62  special needs clients or their caregivers. The division shall
   63  develop a brochure that provides information regarding special
   64  needs shelter registration procedures. The brochure must be
   65  easily accessible on the division’s website. All appropriate
   66  agencies and community-based service providers, including aging
   67  and disability resource centers, memory disorder clinics, home
   68  health care providers, hospices, end-stage renal disease
   69  facilities, nurse registries, and home medical equipment
   70  providers, shall, and any physician licensed under chapter 458
   71  or chapter 459 may, assist emergency management agencies by
   72  annually registering persons with special needs for special
   73  needs shelters, collecting registration information for persons
   74  with special needs as part of the program intake process, and
   75  establishing programs to educate clients about the registration
   76  process and disaster preparedness safety procedures. A client of
   77  a state-funded or federally funded service program who has a
   78  physical, mental, or cognitive impairment or sensory disability
   79  and who needs assistance in evacuating, or when in a shelter,
   80  must register as a person with special needs. The registration
   81  program shall give persons with special needs the option of
   82  preauthorizing emergency response personnel to enter their homes
   83  during search and rescue operations if necessary to ensure their
   84  safety and welfare following disasters.
   85         Section 2. Section 252.3571, Florida Statutes, is created
   86  to read:
   87         252.3571Emergency restoration of services for health care
   88  facilities by electric and water utilities.—Each local emergency
   89  management agency shall identify and include in its county
   90  emergency management plan the health care facilities, including
   91  end-stage renal disease facilities as defined in s. 381.0305(1),
   92  located within its jurisdiction for which electric and water
   93  utilities must prioritize the emergency restoration of services
   94  during a declared state of emergency or disaster.
   95         Section 3. Section 381.0305, Florida Statutes, is created
   96  to read:
   97         381.0305Emergency preparedness and contingency operations
   98  planning for end-stage renal disease facilities.—
   99         (1)DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
  100         (a)“Agency” means the Agency for Health Care
  101  Administration.
  102         (b)“Disaster” has the same meaning as in s. 252.34.
  103         (c)“Emergency” means an incident likely to threaten the
  104  health, welfare, or safety of end-stage renal disease facility
  105  patients or staff or the public, including a fire, equipment
  106  failure, power outage, flood, interruption in utility service,
  107  medical emergency, or natural or other disaster.
  108         (d)“End-stage renal disease facility” or “facility” means
  109  a facility certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
  110  Services which provides dialysis services under the supervision
  111  of a licensed physician.
  112         (e)“Local emergency management agency” has the same
  113  meaning as in s. 252.34.
  114         (2)EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS
  115  PLAN.—
  116         (a)In addition to the federal requirements in 42 C.F.R. s.
  117  494.62, each end-stage renal disease facility in this state
  118  shall adopt a written emergency preparedness and contingency
  119  operations plan to address providing care to patients during an
  120  emergency or disaster. The plan must meet all of the following
  121  requirements:
  122         1.Be updated annually and approved by the facility’s
  123  management each time the plan is updated.
  124         2.Include procedures for notifying each of the following
  125  entities as soon as practicable regarding the closure or
  126  reduction in hours of operation of the facility due to an
  127  emergency or disaster:
  128         a.Each hospital with which the facility has a transfer
  129  agreement.
  130         b.The local or regional trauma agency that serves the
  131  geographic area in which the facility is located.
  132         c.Each applicable local emergency management agency.
  133         3.Except as provided in subsection (4), require the
  134  facility to execute a contract with another end-stage renal
  135  disease facility located within a 50-mile radius of the facility
  136  which stipulates that the other end-stage renal disease facility
  137  will provide dialysis treatment to facility patients who are
  138  unable to receive scheduled dialysis treatment due to the
  139  facility’s closure or reduction in hours.
  140         4.Include a documented patient communications plan that
  141  establishes procedures for notifying a patient when that
  142  patient’s scheduled dialysis treatment is interrupted.
  143         (b)Upon request, an end-stage renal disease facility must
  144  provide its emergency preparedness and contingency operations
  145  plan to each of the following entities:
  146         1.Each hospital with which the facility has a transfer
  147  agreement.
  148         2.The local or regional trauma agency that serves the
  149  geographic area in which the facility is located.
  150         3.Each applicable local emergency management agency.
  151         (3)CONTINUITY OF CARE PLAN.—As part of the emergency
  152  preparedness and contingency operations plan adopted pursuant to
  153  paragraph (2)(a), each end-stage renal disease facility shall
  154  develop, and the facility’s management must approve, a
  155  continuity of care plan for providing dialysis treatment to
  156  facility patients during an emergency or disaster. The facility
  157  must provide a copy of the plan to each patient within 30 days
  158  before admission to the facility. The plan must include all of
  159  the following:
  160         (a)Procedures for distributing written materials to
  161  facility patients which specifically describe the facility’s
  162  emergency preparedness and contingency operations plan.
  163         (b)Based on the facility’s patient population, detailed
  164  procedures regarding the facility’s contingency plan, including
  165  transportation options, for patients to access dialysis
  166  treatment at each end-stage renal disease facility with which
  167  the facility has an agreement or has made advance preparations
  168  to ensure that the facility’s patients have the option to
  169  receive dialysis treatment.
  170         (4)EXCEPTION.—An end-stage renal disease facility is not
  171  required to contract with another end-stage renal disease
  172  facility pursuant to subparagraph (2)(a)3. if all of the
  173  following apply:
  174         (a)An end-stage renal disease facility is not located
  175  within a 50-mile radius of the facility.
  176         (b)The facility obtains written approval from the agency
  177  exempting the facility from such requirement.
  178         (5)TRAINING.—Each end-stage renal disease facility shall
  179  provide annual training to facility staff on the facility’s
  180  emergency preparedness and contingency operations plan adopted
  181  pursuant to this section.
  182         (6)COORDINATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES.—Each end-stage renal
  183  disease facility shall annually contact a representative from
  184  local and state emergency management agencies, a local emergency
  185  operations center, and a local or regional trauma agency to:
  186         (a)Request feedback on whether the emergency preparedness
  187  and contingency operations plan adopted by the facility pursuant
  188  to paragraph (2)(a) should be modified.
  189         (b)Ensure that local agencies, regional agencies, state
  190  agencies, and hospitals are aware of the facility, the
  191  facility’s policy on providing life-saving treatment, the
  192  facility’s patient population and potential transportation
  193  needs, and the anticipated number of patients affected.
  194         (7)CONTINUITY OF ESSENTIAL BUILDING SYSTEMS.—Each end
  195  stage renal disease facility shall adopt an emergency
  196  contingency plan for the continuity of essential building
  197  systems during an emergency or disaster. As part of the plan,
  198  the end-stage renal disease facility must contract with another
  199  end-stage renal disease facility that is located within a 50
  200  mile radius of the facility which stipulates that the other end
  201  stage renal disease facility will provide emergency contingency
  202  care to the facility’s patients.
  203         (8)RULEMAKING.—The agency, in consultation with the
  204  Division of Emergency Management, shall adopt rules to implement
  205  this section. At a minimum, the rules must require that the
  206  medical director of each emergency medical services provider
  207  licensed under chapter 401 approve protocols that give
  208  preference to the emergency transfer of a dialysis patient from
  209  the patient’s location directly to an outpatient end-stage renal
  210  disease facility during a state of emergency declared by the
  211  Governor pursuant to chapter 252 or a disaster declared by the
  212  President of the United States pursuant to the Robert T.
  213  Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C.
  214  ss. 5121 et seq.
  215         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.