Emergency room crowding.

Existing law establishes various programs for the prevention of disease and the promotion of health to be administered by the State Department of Public Health, including, but not limited to, the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care, hospitals. Violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would require every licensed general acute care hospital with an emergency department to determine the range of crowding scores, as defined, that constitute each category of the crowding scale, as provided, for its emergency department. The bill would require every licensed general acute care hospital with an emergency department to calculate and record a crowding score every 4 hours, except as specified, to assess the crowding condition of its emergency department. The bill would require, by January 1, 2011, every licensed general acute care hospital with an emergency department to develop and implement a full-capacity protocol for each of the categories of the crowding scale. This bill would require every licensed general acute care hospital with an emergency department to file its full-capacity protocol with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and to annually report revisions to its protocol. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2014. By changing the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.