PRINTER'S NO. 4378
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2867
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY DAY, CIRESI, HILL-EVANS, HOHENSTEIN, MILLARD,
MIZGORSKI, READSHAW, ROZZI, THOMAS AND SCHLEGEL CULVER,
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES,
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
AN ACT
Amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, providing for long-term infectious
disease control.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 35 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
CHAPTER 59
LONG-TERM INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL
Sec.
5901. Definitions.
5902. Response to emergency.
5903. Inspection and review.
5904. Facilities.
ยง 5901. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless
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context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Commission." The Infectious Disease Advisory Commission
established under section 5902(h) (relating to response to
emergency).
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Disaster emergency." A declaration by the Governor of
disaster emergency under section 7301(c) (relating to general
authority of Governor) relating to public health.
"Facility." Any of the following:
(1) A domiciliary care as defined in section 2202-A of
the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The
Administrative Code of 1929.
(2) A personal care home as defined in section 1001 of
the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human
Services Code.
(3) An assisted living residence as defined in section
1001 of the Human Services Code.
(4) Any of the following entities as defined in section
802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as
the Health Care Facilities Act:
(i) Home care agency.
(ii) Home care registry.
(iii) Home health care agency.
(iv) Hospice.
(v) Long-term care nursing facility.
(5) An older adult daily living center as defined in
section 2 of the act of July 11, 1990 (P.L.499, No.118),
known as the Older Adult Daily Living Centers Licensing Act.
(6) A PACE provider as defined in section 1894 of the
Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. ยง 301 et seq.).
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(7) Any other public or private organization, entity or
part of a private organization or entity, that uses public
funds and is paid, in part, to provide care to care-dependent
individuals.
"Infectious disease coordinator." An employee of the
facility designated to implement the infectious disease plan
required under section 5904 (relating to facilities).
"Organization." An organization that supplies or
manufactures personal protective equipment.
"Personal protective equipment" or "PPE." Gloves, hand
sanitizer, respirators, face masks, gowns, face shields and
other protective equipment designed to be worn or used by
individuals to prevent or contain contact with, or to prevent
transmission of, a communicable illness or the pathogens that
cause communicable illness.
"Plan" or "infectious disease plan." The infectious disease
plan required under section 5904(a).
"PPE stockpile" or "stockpile." The PPE stockpile
established under section 5902(b).
"Recipient." An individual who receives care, services or
treatment in or from a facility.
"Relative." An individual who is related within the fifth
degree of consanguinity or affinity to a recipient in a
facility.
ยง 5902. Response to emergency.
(a) Selection of organization.--The Governor, or the
Governor's designee, shall select an organization, by
competitive bid, for successive terms of five years each to
oversee the procurement, manufacturing and distribution of PPE
in this Commonwealth.
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(b) Duties of selected organization.--The organization
selected under subsection (a) shall perform the following
duties:
(1) Purchase and keep up-to-date a stockpile of PPE to
be used by a facility in the event of a disaster emergency in
accordance with subsection (c).
(2) Select three manufacturers of PPE from which the
organization shall procure PPE.
(3) Contract with manufacturers of PPE to provide PPE to
facilities within this Commonwealth and supply the PPE
stockpile under paragraph (4). A manufacturer must be
domiciled and manufacture PPE in this Commonwealth in order
to be eligible for a contract under this paragraph.
(4) Determine four locations within this Commonwealth to
store PPE as follows:
(i) One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
the northwest area of this Commonwealth.
(ii) One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
the northeast area of this Commonwealth.
(iii) One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located
in the southwest area of this Commonwealth.
(iv) One-fourth of the stockpile shall be located in
the southeast area of this Commonwealth.
(c) Required amount of PPE.--The amount of PPE stored in the
stockpile shall be determined by the Governor, or the Governor's
designee, the first year. For each subsequent year, the PPE
stored in the stockpile shall equal the amount of PPE purchased
the previous year at a minimum, but may not be more than
quadruple the volume.
(d) Funding of stockpile.--The stockpile shall be funded by
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a 50% fee on purchased PPE until the required amount of PPE
stored in the stockpile under subsection (c) is met. For
subsequent PPE stored in the stockpile, the fee shall be reduced
to 7% to fund the stockpile operations. Facilities shall
purchase all PPE from the organization. The amount that each
facility purchases is the amount that will be available to the
facility during a disaster emergency.
(e) Access to PPE.--A facility may access the stockpile to
obtain the PPE purchased by the facility for the stockpile
during a disaster emergency.
(f) Testing.--The following shall apply:
(1) The Governor shall require the testing of recipients
and employees of a facility during a disaster emergency. If a
test to identify a virus or communicable disease causing the
disaster emergency is available, the Governor, in
consultation with the Secretary of Health, shall order the
testing for recipients and employees at each facility to
gather baseline data within the facilities. At a minimum, the
testing shall be completed in:
(i) the most cost-effective manner available; and
(ii) laboratories capable of returning the results
electronically within 24 hours after receiving the
sample.
(2) The Governor shall provide funding to at least three
laboratories located within this Commonwealth permitted to
perform the testing required under paragraph (1).
(3) Upon collecting the baseline data under paragraph
(1), the department, in consultation with the Department of
Human Services, shall create a system to randomly test a
subset of recipients, employees and visitors at each
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facility.
(4) If an at-home test kit for individual use to
identify a virus or communicable disease causing the disaster
emergency is available, the Governor, in consultation with
the department, the Department of Human Services and
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, shall develop a
distribution method to prioritize distribution of the test to
visitors of a relative in a facility.
(g) Vaccine distribution.--If a vaccination to cure, prevent
or otherwise provide acquired immunity against a communicable
disease that is the cause of the disaster emergency is
developed, the Governor shall prioritize vaccine distribution to
employees, recipients and employees in facilities.
(h) Infectious Disease Advisory Commission.--The following
shall apply:
(1) The Governor shall establish the Infectious Disease
Advisory Commission.
(2) The commission shall be composed of the following
members:
(i) Six members knowledgeable and experienced in
issues relating to operations in facilities as follows:
(A) Three members of the Senate, appointed by
the President pro tempore of the Senate, in
consultation with the Majority Leader of the Senate
and the Minority Leader of the Senate.
(B) Three members of the House of
Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, in consultation with the
Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and
the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
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(ii) Three Members appointed by the Governor as
follows:
(A) One member shall be a member of the general
public.
(B) One member shall be a member of an
organization who is directly involved in managing a
facility.
(C) One member shall be a member of an advocacy
or services organization who is directly involved in
providing services to older adults.
(iii) The Secretary of Health, or a designee.
(iv) The Secretary of Human Services, or a designee.
(v) The Secretary of Aging, or a designee.
(3) The commission shall meet as necessary, but no fewer
than three times within the first 90 days of the disaster
emergency.
(4) The commission shall be responsible for examining
and analyzing the practices, processes and procedures
relating to the prevention of and response to infectious
diseases in facilities.
(5) The commission shall develop best practices on
disease prevention, education, training requirements and any
other operations that may be altered for facilities during a
disaster emergency.
(i) Civilian volunteer corps.--The Governor shall establish
a civilian volunteer corps to be utilized to assist facilities
during a disaster emergency. The Governor, in consultation with
the department and the Department of Human Services, shall
promulgate regulations to create training requirements as
necessary for volunteers participating in the civilian volunteer
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corps.
ยง 5903. Inspection and review.
(a) Inspections and surveys.--The department, in
consultation with the Department of Human Services, shall:
(1) Review and align all facility inspections and
surveys conducted by each department with best practices for
reducing the spread of infectious diseases.
(2) Determine the priority order for inspecting or
surveying facilities during an infectious disease outbreak.
(3) Determine a list of protocols for inspection and
intervention.
(b) Regulation review.--The Governor shall submit a report
to the General Assembly reviewing all regulations for
facilities. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(1) An outline of the regulations for facilities.
(2) A comparison of the regulations for facilities that
existed prior to a declaration of a disaster emergency and
any regulations that were suspended or altered during the
state of disaster emergency.
(3) An executive summary of the differences between the
regulations for facilities as determined under paragraph (2).
(c) Data reporting.--The department, in consultation with
the Department of Human Services, shall develop a single
reporting system for facilities to submit new cases and
information that the department determines necessary during a
disaster emergency.
(d) Living wills and end-of-life guidelines.--The
department, in consultation with the Department of Human
Services, shall determine how many individuals died due to
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complications related to COVID-19 during the proclamation of
disaster emergency issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020,
published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), or any renewal of
the state of disaster emergency, and had a living will with a
do-not-resuscitate or similar order. This report shall be
submitted to the General Assembly.
(e) Sample infectious disease plan.--The department, in
consultation with the Department of Human Services, shall
develop and make available on the department's publicly
accessible Internet website a sample infectious disease plan for
a facility to implement. The model infectious disease plan shall
fulfill the requirement under section 5904(a) (relating to
facilities). At a minimum, the infectious disease plan shall
include:
(1) The data reporting requirements under subsection
(c).
(2) A mechanism for complaints or feedback regarding the
infectious disease plan.
(3) A method to obtain a one-year supply of PPE from the
organization under section 5902(a) (relating to response to
emergency).
(4) A method to cohort recipients within the facility.
(5) A method to screen each employee before the
employee's shift begins.
(6) A schedule that assigns staff to certain areas of
the facility.
(7) A notification system to alert relatives of
recipients in the facility of the measures the facility is
taking to prevent and respond to the communicable disease or
virus.
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ยง 5904. Facilities.
(a) Infectious disease plan.--Each facility shall develop an
infectious disease plan to implement upon the declaration of a
disaster emergency. At a minimum, the infectious disease plan
shall include the requirements listed under section 5903(e)
(relating to inspection and review). Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to prevent a facility from taking additional
measures to prevent and respond to an infectious or communicable
disease during a disaster emergency.
(b) Infectious disease coordinator.--Each facility shall
designate an employee to serve as the infectious disease
coordinator within the facility during a disaster emergency to
ensure that the infectious disease plan requirements under
subsection (a) are met.
(c) Staffing requirements.--Notwithstanding any other law to
the contrary, facility staffing requirements during a disaster
emergency shall be as follows:
(1) The total number of hours of general nursing care
provided in each 24-hour period at a health care facility
shall, when totaled for the entire health care facility, be a
minimum of two and seven tenths hours of direct recipient
care for each recipient.
(2) The total number of hours of assisted living
services in each 24-hour period at an assisted living
residence shall, when totaled for the entire assisted living
facility, be a minimum of one hour per day of assisted living
services to each mobile recipient and be a minimum of two
hours per day of assisted living services to each recipient
who has mobility needs.
(3) The total number of hours of personal care services
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in each 24-hour period at a personal care residence shall,
when totaled for the entire personal care home, be a minimum
of one hour per day of personal care services to each mobile
recipient and be a minimum of two hours per day of personal
care services to each recipient who has mobility needs.
(d) Inability to meet requirements.--The following shall
apply if a facility is not able to meet the staffing
requirements of subsection (c):
(1) The facility shall report the facility's inability
to meet the staffing requirements to the department.
(2) The Governor shall deploy the Pennsylvania National
Guard to aid the facility, implement components of the
infectious disease plan and train staff on appropriate
protocols.
(e) Limitation of liability.--A facility shall not be
subject to civil liability for a medical professional liability
claim arising out of an act or omission made in good faith
compliance with any order, directive or other guidance issued by
the Governor, the Secretary of Health or the Secretary of Human
Services in response to the proclamation of disaster emergency
issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B.
1644 (March 21, 2020), or any renewal of the state of disaster
emergency.
(f) Nonliability.--This section shall not be construed as
establishing any liability.
(g) Nonapplication.--This section shall not apply to any
criminal act or to an injury or death to an individual that
results from an act or omission of the individual constituting
recklessness or intentional conduct.
(h) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
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words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Assisted living residence." As defined in section 1001 of
the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human
Services Code.
"Health care facility." Any of the following entities as
defined in section 802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130,
No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act:
(1) Home care agency.
(2) Home care registry.
(3) Home health care agency.
(4) Hospice.
(5) Long-term care nursing facility.
"Personal care home." As defined in section 1001 of the
Human Services Code.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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