Permits flexible use of licensed hospital bed capacity for pediatric and adult patient care under certain circumstances.

This bill allows licensed hospitals in New Jersey with pediatric units to temporarily admit adult patients into pediatric care areas or pediatric patients into adult care areas when their usual units are full. To ensure safety, the law requires that the opposite patient group be excluded from the unit during this time and that the hospital provides appropriate staff trained to treat the temporary patients. Additionally, the bill mandates that these patients be moved to their correct units as soon as a bed becomes available and clinically appropriate, after which the unit can resume normal operations. The New Jersey Commissioner of Health is tasked with creating specific rules to implement these flexible capacity measures.