Protecting Communities from Hospital Closures Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5681 To amend the Public Health Service Act to require hospitals to submit notice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services before closing all or certain units or departments, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 27, 2020 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to require hospitals to submit notice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services before closing all or certain units or depart- ments, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Commu- 4 nities from Hospital Closures Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5681 IH SEC. 2. HOSPITAL CLOSINGS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title III of the Public 2 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 248 et seq.) is amended 3 by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 327B. HOSPITAL CLOSINGS. 5 ‘‘(a) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 6 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—A hospital shall provide 7 written notice to the Secretary of a determination— 8 ‘‘(A) to close all or most of its units or de- 9 partments (in this section referred to as a ‘gen- 10 eral hospital closing’); or 11 ‘‘(B) to close an emergency treatment unit 12 or department, a labor and delivery unit or de- 13 partment, or any other type of unit or depart- 14 ment that the Secretary determines, by regula- 15 tion, might significantly impact the health and 16 welfare of an affected community such that ad- 17 vanced notice and planning is warranted (in 18 this section referred to as a ‘significant impact 19 unit closing’). 20 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—A hospital shall give notice re- 21 quired by paragraph (1)— 22 ‘‘(A) upon making a determination to close 23 described in such paragraph; and 24 ‘‘(B) in no event less than 180 days from 25 the anticipated date of the closing. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5681 IH ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST CLOSING EXCEPT PUR- 1 SUANT TO CLOSURE PLAN.— 2 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A hospital shall not close 3 any unit or department as part of a general hospital 4 closing or a significant impact unit closing except 5 pursuant to a written closure plan that has been ap- 6 proved by the Secretary with respect to such unit or 7 department. 8 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL STANDARD.—The Secretary 9 shall approve a closure plan with respect to the clos- 10 ing of a unit or department only if the Secretary de- 11 termines that the closure plan adequately address- 12 es— 13 ‘‘(A) continuity of patient care; and 14 ‘‘(B) the health and safety needs of the 15 community served by the unit or department. 16 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATION.—The Secretary may con- 17 dition approval under paragraph (2) on the agree- 18 ment by the hospital to modify the closure plan to 19 include such conditions as the Secretary determines 20 to be necessary meet the approval standard of para- 21 graph (2). 22 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Sec- 23 retary shall promptly provide written notice to the 24 Congress upon receiving, approving, rejecting, or re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5681 IH quiring a modification to a closure plan under this 1 section. 2 ‘‘(c) CLOSURE PLANS.— 3 ‘‘(1) INITIAL CLOSURE PLAN.—A hospital seek- 4 ing to carry out a general hospital closing or a sig- 5 nificant impact unit closing shall submit to the Sec- 6 retary— 7 ‘‘(A) not later than 120 days before the 8 anticipated date of the closing, an initial closure 9 plan; and 10 ‘‘(B) not less than every 2 weeks there- 11 after, through the completion of the proposed 12 closing, updates on the progress of the hospital 13 in— 14 ‘‘(i) finalizing the closure plan; and 15 ‘‘(ii) implementing the closing. 16 ‘‘(2) MEETINGS, DISCUSSIONS, AND DOCU- 17 MENTS.—Upon receipt of a closure plan from a hos- 18 pital, the Secretary may, for the purpose of evalu- 19 ating the proposed plan and overseeing the imple- 20 mentation of the plan, require— 21 ‘‘(A) attendance at meetings, and involve- 22 ment in discussions, by executive staff and ad- 23 ministrators of the hospital; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5681 IH ‘‘(B) provision by the hospital to the Sec- 1 retary of relevant information and documents. 2 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF CLOSURE PLAN.—A closure 3 plan under this section shall address the following: 4 ‘‘(A) The reasons for the closing. 5 ‘‘(B) Any plans for the closing of all major 6 departments and units of the hospital, including 7 with respect to— 8 ‘‘(i) continuity of patient care in each 9 department and unit; and 10 ‘‘(ii) the transfer of patients to other 11 facilities. 12 ‘‘(C) Plans with respect to specialized pro- 13 grams or groups of patients particularly vulner- 14 able to interruptions in medical care, such as 15 cancer chemotherapy or prenatal care. 16 ‘‘(D) Any plans for the closure of an emer- 17 gency department, including diversion to other 18 hospital emergency departments and the inter- 19 face with emergency medical services. 20 ‘‘(E) Written agreements with other health 21 care providers to accept responsibility for con- 22 tinuing the care of patients receiving ongoing 23 care at the hospital. 24 ‘‘(F) Plans for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5681 IH ‘‘(i) how all medical records (including 1 paper and electronic records) will be main- 2 tained throughout and after the closing; 3 and 4 ‘‘(ii) how those medical records will be 5 made available to former patients and the 6 physicians who provide care for such pa- 7 tients. 8 ‘‘(G) Plans for the maintenance, transfer, 9 and disposal of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, haz- 10 ardous substances, and other similar materials 11 located at the unit or department subject to the 12 closing. 13 ‘‘(H) The anticipated timeline for closing 14 the units or departments subject to the closing. 15 ‘‘(I) A communications and engagement 16 plan with respect to the affected community, in- 17 cluding plans for a public meeting to be held in 18 the affected community. 19 ‘‘(J) Changes in the hospital’s governing 20 body, administration, and medical staff leader- 21 ship as the closure is implemented. 22 ‘‘(K) A plan regarding the hospital’s ef- 23 forts to assist affected workers and students 24 with— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5681 IH ‘‘(i) finding suitable employment and 1 educational opportunities; and 2 ‘‘(ii) continuation of insurance. 3 ‘‘(L) Plans to address the effects on bar- 4 gaining for represented employees. 5 ‘‘(M) An assurance that existing agree- 6 ments between the hospital and its employees, 7 and agreements subject to collective bargaining 8 with an organization that represents hospital 9 employees, will be honored. 10 ‘‘(N) Plans with respect to maintaining on- 11 going hospital security. 12 ‘‘(O) Plans for supervising compliance 13 with, and updates of, the closure plan. 14 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 15 tion shall be construed as creating obligations for the Fed- 16 eral Government to relieve, discharge, perform, indemnify, 17 or assume liability for any obligation or responsibility of 18 a hospital or any of its officers, directors, or affiliates. 19 ‘‘(e) VIOLATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF VIOLATION.—If the 21 Secretary determines that a hospital has violated or 22 is violating any provision of this section, the Sec- 23 retary may institute an action in a Federal court of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5681 IH competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with 1 this section. 2 ‘‘(2) JUDICIAL REMEDIES.—If a court finds, 3 pursuant to an action instituted pursuant to para- 4 graph (1), that a hospital has violated or is violating 5 any provision of this section, the court may— 6 ‘‘(A) enjoin the hospital from carrying out 7 any action in furtherance of closing a unit or 8 department until the hospital has given proper 9 notice and otherwise complied with this section; 10 ‘‘(B) appoint a special master or tem- 11 porary manager to ensure that the hospital sub- 12 mits a closure plan in accordance with this sec- 13 tion and complies with such closure plan; and 14 ‘‘(C) grant such other and further relief as 15 the court may deem just, proper, and equitable 16 under the circumstances.’’. 17 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub- 18 section (a) applies with respect to any closing that occurs 19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5681.IH H5681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS