SB2977 EngrossedLRB102 22444 CPF 31584 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by
5changing Section 9.6 as follows:
 
6    (210 ILCS 85/9.6)
7    Sec. 9.6. Patient protection from abuse.
8    (a) No patient, administrator, agent, or employee of a
9hospital or a member of its medical staff may abuse a patient
10in the hospital.
11    (b) Any hospital administrator, agent, employee, or
12medical staff member who has reasonable cause to believe that
13any patient with whom he or she has direct contact has been
14subjected to abuse in the hospital shall promptly report or
15cause a report to be made to a designated hospital
16administrator responsible for providing such reports to the
17Department as required by this Section.
18    (c) Retaliation against a person who lawfully and in good
19faith makes a report under this Section is prohibited.
20    (d) Upon receiving a report under subsection (b) of this
21Section, the hospital shall submit the report to the
22Department within 24 hours of obtaining such report. In the
23event that the hospital receives multiple reports involving a

 

 

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1single alleged instance of abuse, the hospital shall submit
2one report to the Department.
3    (e) Upon receiving a report under this Section, the
4hospital shall promptly conduct an internal review to ensure
5the alleged victim's safety. Measures to protect the alleged
6victim shall be taken as deemed necessary by the hospital's
7administrator and may include, but are not limited to,
8removing suspected violators from further patient contact
9during the hospital's internal review. If the alleged victim
10lacks decision-making capacity under the Health Care Surrogate
11Act and no health care surrogate is available, the hospital
12may contact the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission
13to determine the need for a temporary guardian of that person.
14    (f) All internal hospital reviews shall be conducted by a
15designated hospital employee or agent who is qualified to
16detect abuse and is not involved in the alleged victim's
17treatment. All internal review findings must be documented and
18filed according to hospital procedures and shall be made
19available to the Department upon request.
20    (g) Any other person may make a report of patient abuse to
21the Department if that person has reasonable cause to believe
22that a patient has been abused in the hospital.
23    (h) The report required under this Section shall include:
24the name of the patient; the name and address of the hospital
25treating the patient; the age of the patient; the nature of the
26patient's condition, including any evidence of previous

 

 

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1injuries or disabilities; and any other information that the
2reporter believes might be helpful in establishing the cause
3of the reported abuse and the identity of the person believed
4to have caused the abuse.
5    (i) Except for willful or wanton misconduct, any
6individual, person, institution, or agency participating in
7good faith in the making of a report under this Section, or in
8the investigation of such a report or in making a disclosure of
9information concerning reports of abuse under this Section,
10shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil,
11professional, or criminal, that otherwise might result by
12reason of such actions. For the purpose of any proceedings,
13whether civil, professional, or criminal, the good faith of
14any persons required to report cases of suspected abuse under
15this Section or who disclose information concerning reports of
16abuse in compliance with this Section, shall be presumed.
17    (j) No administrator, agent, or employee of a hospital
18shall adopt or employ practices or procedures designed to
19discourage good faith reporting of patient abuse under this
20Section.
21    (k) Every hospital shall ensure that all new and existing
22employees are trained in the detection and reporting of abuse
23of patients and retrained at least every 2 years thereafter.
24    (l) The Department shall investigate each report of
25patient abuse made under this Section according to the
26procedures of the Department, except that a report of abuse

 

 

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1which indicates that a patient's life or safety is in imminent
2danger shall be investigated within 24 hours of such report.
3Under no circumstances may a hospital's internal review of an
4allegation of abuse replace an investigation of the allegation
5by the Department.
6    (m) The Department shall keep a continuing record of all
7reports made pursuant to this Section, including indications
8of the final determination of any investigation and the final
9disposition of all reports. The Department shall inform the
10investigated hospital and any other person making a report
11under subsection (g) of its final determination or disposition
12in writing.
13    (n) The Department shall not disclose to the public any
14information regarding any reports and investigations under
15this Section unless and until the report of abuse is
16substantiated following a full and proper investigation.
17    (o) All patient identifiable information in any report or
18investigation under this Section shall be confidential and
19shall not be disclosed except as authorized by this Act or
20other applicable law.
21    (p) Nothing in this Section relieves a hospital
22administrator, employee, agent, or medical staff member from
23contacting appropriate law enforcement authorities as required
24by law.
25    (q) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean
26that a patient is a victim of abuse because of health care

 

 

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1services provided or not provided by health care
2professionals.
3    (r) Nothing in this Section shall require a hospital,
4including its employees, agents, and medical staff members, to
5provide any services to a patient in contravention of his or
6her stated or implied objection thereto upon grounds that such
7services conflict with his or her religious beliefs or
8practices, nor shall such a patient be considered abused under
9this Section for the exercise of such beliefs or practices.
10    (s) The Department's implementation of this Section is
11subject to appropriations to the Department for that purpose.
12    (t) As used in this Section, the following terms have the
13following meanings:
14    "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual
15abuse intentionally inflicted by a hospital employee, agent,
16patient, or medical staff member on a patient of the hospital
17and does not include any hospital, medical, health care, or
18other personal care services done in good faith in the
19interest of the patient according to established medical and
20clinical standards of care.
21    "Mental injury" means intentionally caused emotional
22distress in a patient from words or gestures that would be
23considered by a reasonable person to be humiliating,
24harassing, or threatening and which causes observable and
25substantial impairment.
26    "Sexual abuse" means any intentional act of sexual contact

 

 

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1or sexual penetration of a patient in the hospital.
2    "Substantiated", with respect to a report of abuse, means
3that a preponderance of the evidence indicates that abuse
4occurred.
5(Source: P.A. 96-692, eff. 1-1-10.)