85R11500 LED-F
 
  By: Huffman S.B. No. 1570
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the care and transportation provided to a sexual
  assault survivor by a health care facility.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 323.001, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subdivision (3-a) to read as follows:
               (3-a)  "SAFE-ready facility" means a health care
  facility designated as a sexual assault forensic exam-ready
  facility under Section 323.0015.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 323, Health and Safety Code, is amended
  by adding Section 323.0015 to read as follows:
         Sec. 323.0015.  SAFE-READY FACILITIES.  The department shall
  designate a health care facility as a sexual assault forensic
  exam-ready facility, or SAFE-ready facility, if the facility
  employs or contracts with a certified sexual assault nurse examiner
  or specially trained physician to be available to perform a
  forensic medical examination on a sexual assault survivor 24 hours
  a day, seven days a week.
         SECTION 3.  Section 323.004, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and adding
  Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  A facility that is not a SAFE-ready [health care]
  facility [designated in a community-wide plan as the primary health
  care facility in the community for treating sexual assault
  survivors] shall inform the sexual assault survivor that:
               (1)  the facility is not a SAFE-ready [the designated]
  facility and provide to the survivor the name and location of the
  closest SAFE-ready [designated] facility; and
               (2)  the survivor is entitled, at the survivor's
  option:
                     (A)  to receive the care described by Subsection
  (b) at that facility, subject to Subsection (b-1); or
                     (B)  to be stabilized and to be transferred to and
  receive the care described by Subsection (b) at a SAFE-ready
  [health care] facility [designated in a community-wide plan as the
  primary health care facility in the community for treating sexual
  assault survivors].
         (a-2)  If a sexual assault survivor chooses to be transferred
  under Subsection (a-1)(2)(B), after obtaining the survivor's
  written, signed consent to the transfer, the facility shall
  stabilize and transfer the survivor to a SAFE-ready [health care]
  facility [in the community designated in a community-wide plan as
  the primary health care facility in the community for treating
  sexual assault survivors], which shall provide care to the survivor
  in accordance with Subsection (b).
         (a-3)  A health care facility that is not a SAFE-ready
  facility shall develop and submit to the department a
  transportation plan for a sexual assault survivor who chooses to be
  transferred to a SAFE-ready facility under Subsection (a-1)(2)(B).  
  The transportation plan must include procedures for:
               (1)  transporting the survivor, including a survivor
  with a disability, to a SAFE-ready facility regardless of the
  survivor's ability to pay;
               (2)  maintaining survivor confidentiality;
               (3)  returning the survivor to the survivor's residence
  or a safe place agreed to by the survivor after the forensic medical
  examination;
               (4)  obtaining confirmation before the survivor is
  transferred that the SAFE-ready facility is able to provide a
  forensic medical examination to the survivor;
               (5)  providing the name of a liaison at the receiving
  SAFE-ready facility who will be available to the survivor should
  the survivor seek help;
               (6)  minimizing the survivor's travel and waiting
  times; and
               (7)  to the extent possible, minimizing additional
  trauma to the survivor.
         SECTION 4.  Section 323.0045(c), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  Each health care facility that has an emergency
  department and that is not a SAFE-ready [health care] facility
  [designated in a community-wide plan as the primary health care
  facility in the community for treating sexual assault survivors]
  shall develop a plan to train personnel on sexual assault forensic
  evidence collection.
         SECTION 5.  Section 323.008, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 323.008.  DATA PUBLICATION.  The department shall post
  on the department's Internet website a list of all hospitals that
  are designated as SAFE-ready facilities [in a community-wide plan
  as the primary health care facility in the community for treating
  sexual assault survivors]. The department shall update the list
  annually.
         SECTION 6.  Section 323.001(1), Health and Safety Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.