104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB0251

 

Introduced 1/22/2025, by Sen. Cristina Castro

 

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, 2027 shall meet specified educational, certification, or experiential requirements. Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits an individual from performing surgical technology services if the individual is acting within the scope of the individual's license or registration or is a student or intern under the direct supervision of a licensed health care provider.


LRB104 03428 BAB 13451 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0251LRB104 03428 BAB 13451 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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Operating Room Patient Safety Act.
 
6    Section 3. Purpose. It is the public policy of the State
7that the State has a legitimate interest in ensuring that all
8surgical procedures are performed to ensure maximum patient
9safety. Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to:
10        (1) ensure that an operating room has been prepared by
11    qualified, trained professionals;
12        (2) ensure that surgical equipment and instruments are
13    properly sterilized and functioning safely;
14        (3) ensure that during surgical procedures, the
15    surgical team can rely on qualified, trained professionals
16    to ensure a sterile environment is maintained; and
17        (4) provide the surgical team with proper instruments
18    and supplies as requested.
 
19    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
20    "Health care facility" means a facility regulated under
21the Hospital Licensing Act, the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment
22Center Act, or the University of Illinois Hospital Act.

 

 

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1"Health care facility" does not include a health care facility
2that is a critical access hospital as designated by the
3Department of Public Health in accordance with 42 CFR 485,
4Subpart F, or a rural emergency hospital as defined under
5subsection (kkk)(2) of Section 1861 of the federal Social
6Security Act.
7    "Surgical technologist" means an individual who is
8employed by or contracts with a health care facility to
9perform surgical technology services and functions.
10    "Surgical technology services" means surgical patient care
11including, but not limited to, one or more of the following:
12        (1) preparation of an operating room and the sterile
13    operating field for surgical procedures by ensuring that
14    surgical equipment is functioning properly and safely and
15    using sterile techniques to prepare surgical supplies
16    instruments and equipment;
17        (2) intraoperative anticipation and response to the
18    needs of surgeons, nurses, and other surgical team members
19    by monitoring the sterile operating field in an operating
20    room and providing the required instruments or supplies;
21        (3) performance of tasks at the sterile operating
22    field, as directed in an operating room setting,
23    including:
24            (A) passing surgical supplies, instruments, and
25        equipment directly to a health care provider;
26            (B) sponging or suctioning an operative site;

 

 

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1            (C) preparing and cutting suture material;
2            (D) transferring and irrigating with fluids;
3            (E) transferring, but not administering, drugs
4        within the sterile field; or
5            (F) handling surgical specimens.
 
6    Section 10. Requirements for surgical technologists. Each
7surgical technologist hired or contracted by a health care
8facility on or after January 1, 2027 shall meet one or more of
9the following requirements:
10        (1) The surgical technologist has successfully
11    completed an educational program nationally accredited by
12    the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education
13    Programs or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education
14    Schools for surgical technologists and holds and maintains
15    certification as a surgical technologist from a national
16    certifying body that certifies surgical technologists.
17        (2) If the surgical technologist has successfully
18    completed the educational requirements under paragraph (1)
19    but has not, on the date the surgical technologist is
20    hired or enters into the contract with the health care
21    facility, obtained the national certification under
22    paragraph (1), the surgical technologist must obtain that
23    certification within 18 months after being hired or
24    entering into the contract.
25        (3) The surgical technologist is registered as a

 

 

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1    registered surgical technologist under the Registered
2    Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist
3    Title Protection Act.
4        (4) The surgical technologist has successfully
5    completed a training program for surgical technology in
6    the armed forces of the United States or the United States
7    Public Health Service.
8        (5) The surgical technologist has engaged in the
9    practice of surgical technology at a hospital licensed
10    under the Hospital Licensing Act or an ambulatory surgical
11    treatment center licensed under the Ambulatory Surgical
12    Treatment Center Act before January 1, 2027.
 
13    Section 15. Exemptions. Nothing in this Act prohibits an
14individual from performing surgical technology services if the
15individual is acting within the scope of the individual's
16license or registration or is a student or intern under the
17direct supervision of a licensed health care provider.