A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4778 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. REPORT ON USE OF SECURITY CAMERAS IN 3 MEDICAL CENTERS OF DEPARTMENT OF VET- 4 ERANS AFFAIRS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 7 erans Affairs, in collaboration with the Office of Oper- 8 ations, Security, and Preparedness of the Department of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4778.IS S4778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4778 IS Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, 1 and the Office of Construction and Facilities Management 2 of the Department, shall submit to the Committee on Vet- 3 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet- 4 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 5 regarding the policies and procedures of the Department 6 relating to the usage and placement of security cameras 7 throughout medical centers of the Department and the 8 role such cameras play in patient safety, security of the 9 medical center, and maintaining patient privacy. 10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 11 (a) shall include the following: 12 (1) A specification of the policies and proce- 13 dures of the Department regarding the use of secu- 14 rity cameras at medical centers of the Department 15 with respect to the following: 16 (A) How the Department uses security 17 cameras to protect patients, including— 18 (i) an identification of the specific 19 units within medical centers in which the 20 use of security cameras is prioritized to 21 protect patient safety; 22 (ii) a description of the procedures 23 that are in place to position security cam- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4778.IS S4778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4778 IS eras to ensure that staff of the Depart- 1 ment are properly caring for patients; 2 (iii) a description of how the Depart- 3 ment uses security cameras to monitor 4 staff; 5 (iv) a description of the extent to 6 which medical centers install security cam- 7 eras to monitor all locations where drugs 8 are stored to ensure that drugs are ac- 9 counted for, and an assessment of whether 10 this is a widely used practice; and 11 (v) a description of improvements that 12 can be made by the Department regarding 13 the placement of security cameras and the 14 storage of data from such cameras to bet- 15 ter hold staff accountable and ensure the 16 safety of patients. 17 (B) The extent to which the Department 18 requires the use of security cameras at medical 19 centers to enhance overall security, including— 20 (i) a description of how exterior secu- 21 rity cameras are used; 22 (ii) a description of how interior secu- 23 rity cameras are used; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4778.IS S4778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4778 IS (iii) an identification of the locations, 1 interior and exterior, in which the Depart- 2 ment prioritizes the use of security cam- 3 eras. 4 (C) The patient privacy policy of the De- 5 partment with respect to the placement of secu- 6 rity cameras, including— 7 (i) the extent to which the Depart- 8 ment authorizes security cameras to be 9 placed outside of patient rooms to monitor 10 who enters the room; and 11 (ii) an identification of areas within 12 medical centers where the use of security 13 cameras is banned. 14 (2) Recommendations for improving patient se- 15 curity and ensuring that staff is held accountable, 16 including— 17 (A) recommendations with respect to— 18 (i) how the Department could better 19 use security cameras to protect the safety 20 of patients; 21 (ii) the manner in which the Depart- 22 ment can better authorize direct super- 23 visors to monitor footage from security 24 cameras; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4778.IS S4778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4778 IS (iii) specific units within medical cen- 1 ters in which the use of security cameras 2 should be required to hold staff account- 3 able; 4 (iv) the amount of funding necessary 5 to address shortfalls with respect to secu- 6 rity cameras and the specific uses for such 7 funding; and 8 (v) the number of staff that each 9 medical center should have monitoring 10 footage from security cameras at all times; 11 and 12 (B) reasoning as to whether or not the 13 Secretary would recommend that every hallway 14 of each medical center have at least one secu- 15 rity camera. 16 (3) Such other matters as the Secretary con- 17 siders necessary. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4778.IS S4778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS