Public Act 096-0692
 		





HB3649 Enrolled
LRB096 09384 DRJ 21774 b






    AN ACT concerning regulation.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:





 
    Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended  by 
changing Section 9 and  by adding Section 9.6 as follows:
 



    (210 ILCS 85/9)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 150)



    Sec. 9. Inspections and investigations. The Department 
shall make or
cause
to be made such inspections and

investigations as it deems necessary, except that, subject to 
appropriation, the Department shall investigate every 
allegation of abuse of a patient received by the Department. 
Information received by the
Department through filed reports, 
inspection, or as otherwise authorized
under this Act shall not 
be disclosed publicly in such manner as to
identify individuals 
or hospitals, except (i) in a proceeding involving the
denial, 
suspension, or revocation of a permit to establish a hospital 
or a
proceeding involving the denial, suspension, or revocation 
of a license to
open, conduct, operate, and maintain a 
hospital, (ii) to the Department of
Children and Family 
Services in the course of a child abuse or neglect

investigation conducted by that Department or by the Department 
of Public
Health, (iii) in accordance with Section 6.14a of 
this Act, or (iv)
in other circumstances as may be approved by 
the Hospital Licensing Board.

(Source: P.A. 90-608, eff. 6-30-98; 91-242, eff. 1-1-00.)

 
    (210 ILCS 85/9.6  new)
    Sec. 9.6. Patient protection from abuse.
    (a) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital or a 
member of its medical staff may abuse a patient in the 
hospital.
    (b) Any hospital administrator, agent, employee, or 
medical staff member who has reasonable cause to believe that 
any patient with whom he or she has direct contact has been 
subjected to abuse in the hospital shall promptly report or 
cause a report to be made to a designated hospital 
administrator responsible for providing such reports to the 
Department as required by this Section.
    (c) Retaliation against a person who lawfully and in good 
faith makes a report under this Section is prohibited.
    (d) Upon receiving a report under subsection (b) of this 
Section, the hospital shall submit the report to the Department 
within 24 hours of obtaining such report.  In the event that the 
hospital receives multiple reports involving a single alleged 
instance of abuse, the hospital shall submit one report to the 
Department.
    (e) Upon receiving a report under this Section, the 
hospital shall promptly conduct an internal review to ensure 
the alleged victim's safety.  Measures to protect the alleged 
victim shall be taken as deemed necessary by the hospital's 
administrator and may include, but are not limited to, removing 
suspected violators from further patient contact during the 
hospital's internal review. If the alleged victim lacks 
decision-making capacity under the Health Care Surrogate Act 
and no health care surrogate is available, the hospital may 
contact the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission to 
determine the need for a temporary guardian of that person.
    (f) All internal hospital reviews shall be conducted by a 
designated hospital employee or agent who is qualified to 
detect abuse and is not involved in the alleged victim's 
treatment.  All internal review findings must be documented and 
filed according to hospital procedures and shall be made 
available to the Department upon request.
    (g) Any other person may make a report of patient abuse to 
the Department if that person has reasonable cause to believe 
that a patient has been abused in the hospital.
    (h) The report required under this Section shall include: 
the name of the patient; the name and address of the hospital 
treating the patient; the age of the patient; the nature of the 
patient's condition, including any evidence of previous 
injuries or disabilities; and any other information that the 
reporter believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of 
the reported abuse and the identity of the person believed to 
have caused the abuse.
    (i) Except for willful or wanton misconduct, any 
individual, person, institution, or agency participating in 
good faith in the making of a report under this Section, or in 
the investigation of such a report or in making a disclosure of 
information concerning reports of abuse under this Section, 
shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil, 
professional, or criminal, that otherwise might result by 
reason of such actions. For the purpose of any proceedings, 
whether civil, professional, or criminal, the good faith of any 
persons required to report cases of suspected abuse under this 
Section or who disclose information concerning reports of abuse 
in compliance with this Section, shall be presumed.
    (j) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital 
shall adopt or employ practices or procedures designed to 
discourage good faith reporting of patient abuse under this 
Section.
    (k) Every hospital shall ensure that all new and existing 
employees are trained  in the detection and reporting of abuse 
of patients and retrained at least  every 2 years thereafter.
    (l) The Department shall investigate each report of patient 
abuse made under this Section according to the procedures of 
the Department, except that a report of abuse which indicates 
that a patient's life or safety is in imminent danger shall be 
investigated within 24 hours of such report.  Under no 
circumstances may a hospital's internal review of an allegation 
of abuse replace an investigation of the allegation by the 
Department.
    (m) The Department shall keep a continuing record of all 
reports made pursuant to this Section, including indications of 
the final determination of any investigation and the final 
disposition of all reports. The Department shall inform the 
investigated hospital and any other person making a report 
under subsection (g) of its final determination or disposition 
in writing.
    (n) The Department shall not disclose to the public any 
information regarding any reports and investigations under 
this Section unless and until the report of abuse is 
substantiated following a full and proper investigation.
    (o) All patient identifiable information in any report or 
investigation under this Section shall be confidential and 
shall not be disclosed except as authorized by this Act or 
other applicable law.
    (p) Nothing in this Section relieves a hospital 
administrator, employee, agent, or medical staff member from 
contacting appropriate law enforcement authorities as required 
by law.
    (q) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean that 
a patient is a victim of abuse because of health care services 
provided or not provided by health care professionals.
    (r) Nothing in this Section shall require a hospital, 
including its employees, agents, and medical staff members, to 
provide any services to a patient in contravention of his or 
her stated or implied objection thereto upon grounds that such 
services conflict with his or her religious beliefs or 
practices, nor shall such a patient be considered abused under 
this Section for the exercise of such beliefs or practices.
    (s) The Department's implementation of this Section is 
subject to appropriations to the Department for that purpose.
    (t) As used in this Section, the following terms have the 
following meanings: 
    "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual abuse 
intentionally inflicted by a hospital employee, agent, or 
medical staff member on a patient of the hospital and does not 
include any hospital, medical, health care, or other personal 
care services done in good faith in the interest of the patient 
according to established medical and clinical standards of 
care.
    "Mental injury" means intentionally caused  emotional 
distress in a patient from words or gestures that would be 
considered by a reasonable person to be  humiliating, harassing, 
or threatening and which causes observable and substantial 
impairment.
    "Sexual abuse" means any intentional act of sexual contact 
or sexual penetration of a patient in the hospital.
    "Substantiated", with respect to a report of abuse,  means 
that a preponderance of the evidence indicates that abuse 
occurred.