SB 1260: Hospitals; reports of threats or acts of violence against health care providers. - Virginia

Health and Human Services Substitute → Chaptered · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill converts a House substitute version of SB 1260 into a chaptered act, meaning it has been officially approved and enacted by the General Assembly. The substantive policy content remains unchanged, but the document format shifts from a proposed amendment to an enacted law with official chapter designation and approval date.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to amend Virginia Code § 32.1-127 regarding hospital regulations and workplace violence reporting requirements.

TECHNICAL

Document format changed from 'House Substitute' proposal to 'Chaptered' enacted law with official approval date of March 24, 2025 and chapter designation 472.

Added official legislative formatting including chapter headers, approval date, and bill number [S 1260] in the enacted version.

Removed House-specific metadata including bill number 25107180D, committee attribution, and patron information from the substitute version.

Health and Human Services Subcommittee Substitute → Health and Human Services Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted from a Senate-substitute version to a House-substitute version, with no substantive policy changes to the actual legislative content. The formatting differences include header information, page numbering, and line breaks, but the core provisions regarding hospital regulations, workplace violence reporting, and healthcare facility standards remain identical.

TECHNICAL

Header information changed from 'Senate Bill' to 'House Substitute' with updated date (February 13, 2025) and bill number (25107180D).

Page numbering and formatting were reorganized to reflect House substitute markup conventions instead of Senate substitute conventions.

Removed original Senate-specific header text and replaced with House substitute formatting including bill number and committee information.

Education and Health Substitute → Health and Human Services Subcommittee Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to transfer jurisdiction from the Senate Committee on Education and Health to the House Committee on Health and Human Services, reflecting a shift in legislative oversight. The substantive policy content regarding hospital regulations, workplace violence reporting, and healthcare facility standards appears unchanged in the provided text, with the primary difference being the committee assignment and formatting adjustments for the substitute bill.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities, but the committee responsible for oversight changed from Education and Health to Health and Human Services.

ELIGIBILITY

Committee oversight changed from Senate Committee on Education and Health to House Committee on Health and Human Services

TECHNICAL

Formatting and header information updated to reflect the new committee assignment and substitute bill status

SEH Sub: Health Substitute → Education and Health Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted with improved spacing and line breaks for readability, and the date of consideration was updated from January 29, 2025 to January 30, 2025. No substantive policy changes, new requirements, or substantive amendments to the legislative content were made.

TECHNICAL

Date of consideration changed from 1/29/2025 to 1/30/2025

Text formatting improved with consistent spacing, line breaks, and page number markers added for readability

Enrolled → SEH Sub: Health Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from an enrolled act into a substitute amendment version for Senate consideration. The substantive policy content remains identical, with no changes to the actual regulations, requirements, or provisions regarding hospital standards, workplace violence reporting, organ donation protocols, or other healthcare facility mandates. The only differences are formatting changes, page numbering, and the addition of Senate committee header information indicating this is a proposed substitute version.

TECHNICAL

Removed the 'ENROLLED' status header and chapter designation, indicating this version is no longer the final enacted text but a proposed substitute for further consideration.

Added Senate bill header information including bill number (SB 1260), amendment type (Substitute), committee attribution (Senate Committee on Education and Health), and patron information (Senator Aird).

Changed page numbering and formatting layout to match Senate substitute amendment standards, with page numbers appearing in the right margin instead of left margin.

Removed the 'Approved' designation that indicated the bill had been signed into law in the enrolled version.

Introduced → Enrolled · 19 edits · Mar 24, 2025

MAJOR

This bill amends Virginia's hospital and nursing home regulations to add new requirements for patient safety, security, and care protocols. The changes include mandatory security plans for emergency departments, new organ donation protocols, expanded visitation rights, and requirements for substance abuse discharge planning. These updates aim to improve patient care standards, enhance staff safety, and ensure better coordination with community health services.

Scope change

The bill applies to all licensed hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities in Virginia, with specific requirements for facilities providing obstetrical services, emergency departments, and inpatient psychiatric services.

REQUIREMENT

Requires hospitals with emergency departments to establish security plans including presence of off-duty law enforcement or trained security personnel based on security risk assessments.

Mandates hospitals establish organ donation protocols with designated procurement organizations, including family notification procedures and training requirements.

Requires hospitals providing obstetrical services to establish protocols for admission or transfer of pregnant women in labor.

Requires licensed hospitals to develop discharge plans for substance-abusing postpartum women and their infants, including community services board notification.

Requires nursing homes to train employees on adult abuse reporting procedures and consequences for failing to report.

Requires nursing homes and certified nursing facilities to register with state police to receive notifications about sex offender registry status of potential patients.

Expands hospital visitation policies to allow adult patients to receive visits from any individual they choose, subject to medical condition and room capacity restrictions.

Requires nursing homes to provide full refunds of unexpended patient funds within 30 days of discharge or death.

Requires hospitals providing inpatient psychiatric services to establish protocols for refusing admission, including direct communication with referring physicians and toxicology review.

Requires hospitals to develop policies for determining medical and ethical appropriateness of proposed medical care, including second opinion processes and patient participation rights.

Requires hospitals with emergency departments to establish protocols for treating substance use-related emergencies, including naloxone dispensing and referrals to behavioral health services.

Requires nursing homes to establish visitation protocols during public health emergencies, including virtual visit options and minimum visit frequency requirements.

Requires hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities to establish policies for patient use of intelligent personal assistants while protecting health information privacy.

Requires hospitals to establish protocols allowing religious clergy visits during public health emergencies, subject to health and safety requirements.

Requires hospitals making health records available to minors through secure websites to also make records available to parents or guardians unless disclosure has been legally restricted.

Requires hospitals performing surgical procedures to adopt policies for smoke evacuation systems during planned surgeries that generate surgical smoke.

Allows nursing home staff to store, dispense, or administer cannabis oil to residents with valid written certification in accordance with state law.

Requires hospitals to report threats or acts of violence against health care providers to the Department of Health and submit quarterly data on incidents.

TIMELINE

Establishes July 1, 2025 as the effective date for the amended regulations.

Hospitals; reports of threats or acts of violence against health care providers.

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