HB0185 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 03355 DRJ 14443 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB0185

Introduced 1/14/2009, by Rep. Patricia R. Bellock

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the MRSA Screening, Prevention, and Reporting Act for State Residential Facilities. Requires State residential facilities to establish an MRSA control program. Defines "State residential facility" to mean: (i) Department of Human Services operated residential facilities, including State mental health hospitals and other facilities; (ii) Department of Corrections operated correctional centers, work camps or boot camps, and adult transition centers; and (iii) Department of Juvenile Justice operated juvenile centers and boot camps. Sets forth required features of the MRSA control program, including screening and surveillance, reporting, prevention, infection control, and treatment. Includes requirements for training of employees and others. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

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 MRSA Screening, Prevention, and Reporting Act for State Residential Facilities.

Section 5. Definition. In this Act, "State residential facility" or "facility" means: any Department of Human Services operated residential facility, including any State mental health hospital, State developmental center, or State residential school for the deaf and visually impaired; any Department of Corrections operated correctional center, work camp or boot camp, or adult transition center; and any Department of Juvenile Justice operated juvenile center or boot camp.

Section 10. MRSA control procedures. In order to improve the prevention of infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ("MRSA"), every State residential facility shall establish MRSA control procedures that include the following features:

(1) Screening and surveillance. Upon admission or incarceration, all individuals shall be screened for MRSA infection and colonization.

(2) Reporting.

(A) All confirmed MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections shall be documented in the resident, patient, student, or inmate's medical record.

(B) All confirmed MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections shall be reported to the director of the department operating the facility and to the Department of Public Health. The report shall indicate whether the MRSA infection was present on intake or contracted at the facility, if known.

(3) Prevention.

(A) Education. Employees, residents, patients, students, and inmates of the facility shall be provided with information on the transmission, prevention, treatment, and containment of MRSA infections.

(B) Hand Hygiene procedures: Each facility shall develop and implement hand hygiene procedures for employees, residents, patients, students, and inmates of the facility that includes adequate hand-washing equipment and supplies and regular training on effective hand hygiene techniques and education on the importance of hand hygiene. These trainings must be conducted at least twice each year and may be conducted in conjunction with other trainings.

(C) Sanitation. Each facility shall develop and implement sanitation procedures for cleaning and disinfecting the environment that includes the following:

(i) Use of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered disinfectant according to the manufacturer's instructions.

(ii) Regularly cleaning or disinfecting washable surfaces in residents', patients', and students' rooms, in inmates' cells, and in shared areas such as showers, fitness areas, and food services areas.

(iii) Cleaning or disinfecting restraining devices after every use.

(iv) Treating all linen (towels, sheets, and similar items) as potentially infectious and following recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for laundering.

(D) Personal protective equipment. Employees of the facility shall be provided with personal protective equipment (gloves, eye protection, and gowns) for use when contact with blood, body fluids, or wound drainage is likely.

(E) Isolation of residents, patients, students, or inmates with MRSA. Each State residential facility shall develop guidelines for isolating or cohorting MRSA-diagnosed residents, patients, students, or inmates from others when a clinician determines the individual to be a high risk for spreading the contagion. Residents, patients, students, or inmates diagnosed with MRSA shall be examined by a clinician to determine their risk of contagion to others. The determination about whether to isolate residents, patients, students, or inmates with MRSA infections shall include consideration of the degree to which wound drainage can be contained and the ability or willingness of a resident, patient, student, or inmate to comply with infection control instructions.

(4) Infection control. Upon the diagnosis of a single MRSA case at a State residential facility, that facility shall implement surveillance measures to detect additional MRSA cases through the following procedures:

(A) The individual diagnosed with MRSA shall be interviewed to identify potential sources of infections and close contacts. The interview should seek to determine the date of onset and activity immediately before and following onset, including recent hospitalizations, housing, work assignments, sharing of personal hygiene items, sexual contact, participation in close-contact sports, or exposure to other residents, patients, students, or inmates with draining wounds or skin infections.

(B) Employees, residents, patients, students, or inmates of the facility identified as having contact with the infected individual should be examined for signs and symptoms of infection and screened for colonization.

(C) State residential facility management shall inform all employees of the facility that an occurrence of MRSA infection has been identified. The notification must protect the identity and confidential information of the infected individual. Management shall immediately conduct training on MRSA and hand hygiene, in addition to the training required under subdivision (3)(B) of this Section, unless there has been a confirmed case of MRSA at the facility within the previous 6 months and a training was conducted at that time.

(D) State residential facility management shall inform all health care providers evaluating residents or inmates of the facility of the MRSA infection occurrence so they may be on the alert for inmates with skin or soft tissue infections or other evidence of MRSA infections.

(E) No resident, patient, student, or inmate with a skin or soft tissue infection shall be transferred to another facility until fully evaluated and appropriately treated as described in this subparagraph (E), except when required for security reasons, medical care, or other special circumstances. Residents, patients, students, or inmates with MRSA infections requiring transfer shall have draining wounds dressed the day of transfer to contain the draining. Escort personnel shall be notified of the resident, patient, student, or inmate's condition and educated on infection control measures. The clinical director of the sending facility or his or her designee shall notify the receiving institution's clinical director or health services administrator of pending transfers of individuals with MRSA. This subparagraph (E) does not apply to discharges and is not intended to limit the individual's right to leave an institutional setting.

(5) Treatment. The Department of Public Health shall develop a MRSA treatment protocol for each department operating a State residential facility. Upon issuance of the protocol by the Department of Public Health, each department operating a State residential facility shall educate all clinical staff at the facility and healthcare vendors for the facility on that protocol.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.