HB4490 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 17111 BAB 30530 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4490

Introduced 1/20/2026, by Rep. Barbara Hernandez

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Operating Room Patient Safety Act. Provides that each surgical technologist hired or contracted by a health care facility on or after January 1, 2028 shall meet specified educational, certification, or experiential requirements. Provides that health care facilities located in a Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area, as determined by the federal government, shall be exempt as provided but shall have a hiring preference for surgical technologists who graduated from nationally accredited surgical technology programs and are certified through the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting or the National Center for Competency Testing. Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits a person licensed in the State under any other Act from engaging in the practice for which the person is licensed, including, but not limited to, a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a nurse performing surgery-related tasks within the scope of the nurse's license or registration; or a student or intern from performing surgical technology services under direct supervision, as defined in the Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Operating Room Patient Safety Act.

Section 3. Purpose. It is the public policy of the State that the State has a legitimate interest in ensuring that all surgical procedures are performed to ensure maximum patient safety. Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) ensure that an operating room has been prepared by qualified, trained professionals;

(2) ensure that surgical equipment and instruments are properly sterilized and functioning safely;

(3) ensure that during surgical procedures, the surgical team can rely on qualified, trained professionals to ensure a sterile environment is maintained; and

(4) provide the surgical team with proper instruments and supplies as requested.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Health care facility" means a facility regulated under the Hospital Licensing Act, the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act, or the University of Illinois Hospital Act. "Health care facility" does not include: (i) a health care facility that is a critical access hospital as designated by the Department of Public Health in accordance with 42 CFR 485, Subpart F; (ii) a rural emergency hospital as defined under subsection (kkk)(2) of Section 1861 of the federal Social Security Act; or (iii) a health care facility that is located more than 60 miles from a nationally accredited surgical technology program located in Illinois.

"Surgical technologist" means an individual who is employed by or contracts with a health care facility to perform surgical technology services and functions.

"Surgical technology services" means surgical patient care including, but not limited to, one or more of the following:

(1) preparation of an operating room and the sterile operating field for surgical procedures, by ensuring that surgical equipment is functioning properly and safely, and using sterile techniques to prepare surgical supplies, instruments, and equipment;

(2) intraoperative anticipation and response to the needs of surgeons, nurses, and other surgical team members by monitoring the sterile operating field in an operating room and providing the required instruments or supplies;

(3) performance of tasks at the sterile operating field, as directed in an operating room setting, including:

(A) passing surgical supplies, instruments, and equipment directly to a health care provider;

(B) sponging or suctioning an operative site;

(C) preparing and cutting suture material;

(D) transferring and irrigating with fluids;

(E) transferring, but not administering, drugs within the sterile field; or

(F) handling surgical specimens.

Section 10. Requirements for surgical technologists. Each surgical technologist hired or contracted by a health care facility on or after January 1, 2028 shall meet one or more of the following requirements:

(1) The surgical technologist has successfully completed a nationally accredited program for surgical technologists and is certified through the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting or the National Center for Competency Testing.

(2) If the surgical technologist has successfully completed the educational requirements under paragraph (1) but has not, on the date the surgical technologist is hired or enters into the contract with the health care facility, obtained the national certification under paragraph (1), the surgical technologist must obtain that certification within 18 months after being hired or entering into the contract.

(3) The surgical technologist is registered as a registered surgical technologist under the Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act.

(4) The surgical technologist has successfully completed a training program for surgical technology in the armed forces of the United States or the United States Public Health Service.

(5) The surgical technologist has engaged in the practice of surgical technology at a hospital licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act or an ambulatory surgical treatment center licensed under the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act before January 1, 2028.

Section 15. Exemptions.

(a) Health care facilities located in a Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area, as determined by the federal government, shall be exempt from Section 10 of this Act but shall have a hiring preference for surgical technologists who graduated from nationally accredited surgical technology programs and are certified through the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting or the National Center for Competency Testing.

(b) Nothing in this Act prohibits:

(1) a person licensed in this State under any other Act from engaging in the practice for which the person is licensed, including, but not limited to, a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a nurse performing surgery-related tasks within the scope of the nurse's license or registration; or

(2) a student or intern from performing surgical technology services under direct supervision, as defined in the Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act.