093_SB0061sam001











                                     LRB093 03263 AMC 12023 a

 1                     AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 61

 2        AMENDMENT NO.     .  Amend Senate Bill  61  by  replacing
 3    everything after the enacting clause with the following:

 4        "Section  5.   The  Language  Assistance  Services Act is
 5    amended by changing Sections 10 and 15  and  adding  Sections
 6    16, 17, and 18 as follows:

 7        (210 ILCS 87/10)
 8        Sec. 10.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
 9        "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
10        "Interpreter" means a person fluent in English and in the
11    necessary  language  of the patient who can accurately speak,
12    read, and readily interpret the necessary second language, or
13    a person who can accurately  sign  and  read  sign  language.
14    Interpreters shall have the ability to translate the names of
15    body  parts  and to describe completely symptoms and injuries
16    in both languages.  Interpreters may include members  of  the
17    medical or professional staff.
18        "Language  or communication barriers" means either of the
19    following:
20             (1)  With respect to spoken language, barriers  that
21        are    experienced    by    limited-English-speaking   or
22        non-English-speaking  individuals  who  speak  the   same
 
                            -2-      LRB093 03263 AMC 12023 a
 1        primary  language,  if  those  individuals  constitute at
 2        least 5% of the patients served by  the  health  facility
 3        annually.
 4             (2)  With  respect  to  sign language, barriers that
 5        are experienced by individuals who  are  deaf  and  whose
 6        primary language is sign language.
 7        "Health  facility"  means  a  hospital licensed under the
 8    Hospital Licensing Act or a long-term care facility  licensed
 9    under the Nursing Home Care Act.
10    (Source: P.A. 88-244.)

11        (210 ILCS 87/15)
12        Sec.  15.  Language  assistance  services authorized.  To
13    insure access to health care  information  and  services  for
14    limited-English-speaking  or  non-English-speaking  residents
15    and deaf residents, a health facility must may do one or more
16    of the following:
17        (1)  Review  existing policies regarding interpreters for
18    patients with limited English proficiency  and  for  patients
19    who  are  deaf, including the availability of staff to act as
20    interpreters.
21        (2)  Adopt and review annually  a  policy  for  providing
22    language  assistance  services  to  patients with language or
23    communication barriers.  The policy shall include  procedures
24    for  providing,  to  the extent possible as determined by the
25    facility, the use of an interpreter whenever  a  language  or
26    communication barrier exists, except where the patient, after
27    being   informed  of  the  availability  of  the  interpreter
28    service, chooses  to  use  a  family  member  or  friend  who
29    volunteers to interpret.  The procedures shall be designed to
30    maximize efficient use of interpreters and minimize delays in
31    providing  interpreters  to  patients.   The procedures shall
32    insure, to the extent possible as determined by the facility,
33    that interpreters are available, either on  the  premises  or
 
                            -3-      LRB093 03263 AMC 12023 a
 1    accessible  by telephone, 24 hours a day.  The facility shall
 2    annually transmit to the Department of Public Health  a  copy
 3    of  the updated policy and shall include a description of the
 4    facility's   efforts   to   insure   adequate   and    speedy
 5    communication between patients with language or communication
 6    barriers and staff.
 7        (3)  Develop,  and post in conspicuous locations, notices
 8    that advise patients and their families of  the  availability
 9    of  interpreters, the procedure for obtaining an interpreter,
10    and the telephone  numbers  to  call  for  filing  complaints
11    concerning  interpreter  service problems, including, but not
12    limited to, a T.D.D. number for the  hearing  impaired.   The
13    notices shall be posted, at a minimum, in the emergency room,
14    the admitting area, the facility entrance, and the outpatient
15    area.    Notices   shall  inform  patients  that  interpreter
16    services are available on request, shall list  the  languages
17    for  which  interpreter  services  are  available,  and shall
18    instruct patients to direct complaints regarding  interpreter
19    services  to  the  Department of Public Health, including the
20    telephone numbers to call for that purpose.
21        (4)  Identify and record a patient's primary language and
22    dialect on one or more of the following:  a  patient  medical
23    chart, hospital bracelet, bedside notice, or nursing card.
24        (5)  Prepare   and   maintain,   as  needed,  a  list  of
25    interpreters who have been identified as proficient  in  sign
26    language  and  in  the  languages  of  the  population of the
27    geographical area served by the facility who have the ability
28    to translate the names of body parts, injuries, and symptoms.
29        (6)  Notify the facility's employees  of  the  facility's
30    commitment  to  provide  interpreters  to  all  patients  who
31    request them.
32        (7)  Review  all  standardized  written  forms,  waivers,
33    documents,  and informational materials available to patients
34    on admission to determine which to translate  into  languages
 
                            -4-      LRB093 03263 AMC 12023 a
 1    other than English.
 2        (8)  Consider   providing  its  nonbilingual  staff  with
 3    standardized picture and phrase sheets  for  use  in  routine
 4    communications   with   patients   who   have   language   or
 5    communication barriers.
 6        (9)  Develop  community  liaison  groups  to  enable  the
 7    facility        and       the       limited-English-speaking,
 8    non-English-speaking, and  deaf  communities  to  insure  the
 9    adequacy of the interpreter services.
10    (Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.)

11        (210 ILCS 87/16 new)
12        Sec. 16.  Complaint system.  The Department shall develop
13    and implement a complaint system through which the Department
14    may receive complaints related to violations of this Act.

15        (210 ILCS 87/17 new)
16        Sec.  17.  Penalty  for violation.  A person who violates
17    this Act shall be guilty of a business offense punishable  by
18    a fine of $10,000 and each day's violation shall constitute a
19    separate offense.

20        (210 ILCS 87/18 new)
21        Sec.  18.  Rules.   The  Department shall adopt any rules
22    necessary for the  administration  and  enforcement  of  this
23    Act.".