H.B. No. 2211

AN ACT

relating to in-person visitation with hospital patients during certain periods of disaster.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 241.012 to read as follows:

Sec. 241.012. IN-PERSON HOSPITAL VISITATION DURING PERIOD OF DISASTER. (a) In this section:

(1) "Hospital" means a hospital licensed under this chapter.

(2) "Qualifying official disaster order" means an order, proclamation, or other instrument issued by the governor, another official of this state, or the governing body or an official of a political subdivision of this state declaring a disaster that has infectious disease as the basis for the declared disaster.

(3) "Qualifying period of disaster" means the period of time the area in which a hospital is located is declared to be a disaster area by a qualifying official disaster order.

(4) "Religious counselor" means an individual acting substantially in a pastoral or religious capacity to provide spiritual counsel to other individuals.

(b) A hospital may not during a qualifying period of disaster prohibit in-person visitation with a patient receiving care or treatment at the hospital unless federal law or a federal agency requires the hospital to prohibit in-person visitation during that period.

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a hospital may during a qualifying period of disaster:

(1) restrict the number of visitors a patient receiving care or treatment at the hospital may receive to not fewer than one;

(2) require a visitor to the hospital to:

(A) complete a health screening before entering the hospital; and

(B) wear personal protective equipment at all times while visiting a patient at the hospital; and

(3) deny entry to or remove from the hospital's premises a visitor who fails or refuses to:

(A) submit to or meet the requirements of a health screening administered by the hospital; or

(B) wear personal protective equipment that meets the hospital's infection control and safety requirements in the manner prescribed by the hospital.

(d) A health screening administered by a hospital under this section must be conducted in a manner that, at a minimum, complies with:

(1) hospital policy; and

(2) if applicable, guidance or directives issued by the commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or another agency with regulatory authority over the hospital.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, neither a hospital nor a physician providing health care services on the hospital's premises is subject to civil or criminal liability or an administrative penalty if a visitor contracts an infectious disease while on the hospital's premises during a qualifying period of disaster or, in connection with a visit to the hospital, spreads an infectious disease to any other individual, except where intentional misconduct or gross negligence by the hospital or the physician is shown. A physician who in good faith takes, or fails to take, an action under this section is not subject to civil or criminal liability or disciplinary action for the physician's action or failure to act under this section.

(f) This section may not be construed as requiring a hospital to:

(1) provide a specific type of personal protective equipment to a visitor to the hospital; or

(2) allow in-person visitation with a patient receiving care or treatment at the hospital if an attending physician determines that in-person visitation with that patient may lead to the transmission of an infectious agent that poses a serious community health risk.

(g) A determination made by an attending physician under Subsection (f)(2) is valid for not more than five days after the date the determination is made unless renewed by an attending physician.

(h) If a visitor to a hospital is denied in-person visitation with a patient receiving care or treatment at a hospital because of a determination made by an attending physician under Subsection (f)(2), the hospital shall:

(1) provide each day a written or oral update of the patient's condition to the visitor if the visitor:

(A) is authorized by the patient to receive relevant health information regarding the patient;

(B) has authority to receive the patient's health information under an advance directive or medical power of attorney; or

(C) is otherwise the patient's surrogate decision-maker regarding the patient's health care needs under hospital policy and other applicable law; and

(2) notify the person who receives the daily update required under Subdivision (1) of the estimated date and time at which the patient will be discharged from the hospital.

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a hospital may not prohibit in-person visitation by a religious counselor with a patient who is receiving care or treatment at the hospital and who is seriously ill or dying for a reason other than the religious counselor's failure to comply with a requirement described by Subsection (c)(2).

(j) In the event of a conflict between this section and any provision of a qualifying official disaster order, this section prevails.

(k) This section does not create a cause of action against a hospital or physician.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2211 was passed by the House on April 16, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 5, 1 present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2211 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 1, 1 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 2211 was passed by the Senate, with amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________

Date

__________________

Governor