N.Y. MHY Law § 80.05 — New York Code / Act MHY / Title E / Article 80 / Section 80.05
Surrogate decision-making committees and panels; organization
Status: in_force

§ 80.05 Surrogate decision-making committees and panels; organization.\n  (a) Surrogate decision-making committees of at least twelve persons\nshall be established by the commission in geographic areas of the state,\nas may be designated by the commission. A committee designated after\nApril first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight shall not accept applications\nfor review pursuant to this article until April first, nineteen hundred\neighty-nine and within appropriations made therefor.\n  (b) The members shall be appointed by the commission. The commission\nshall designate one member of each of the committees to serve as\nchairperson, who shall serve at the pleasure of the commission. Members\nappointed as of July thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety shall serve\nfor terms expiring on July thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-one.\nUpon expiration of such terms, such members may be appointed for terms\nof two years commencing on August first, nineteen hundred ninety-one.\nAny additional members and members appointed due to vacancies shall be\nappointed for terms of two years commencing on the date of completion of\ntraining by the commission. Members may be reappointed for additional\ntwo year terms of office but the provisions of section five of the\npublic officers law shall not apply to such members. The commission may\nassign a committee member to serve on an additional committee or\ncommittees as deemed necessary or appropriate by the commission.\n  (c) Members of the committee and panel shall include members from each\nof the following groups:\n  (i) physicians, nurses, psychologists, or other health care\nprofessionals licensed by the state of New York; (ii) former patients or\nparents, spouses, adult children, siblings or advocates of mentally\ndisabled persons; (iii) attorneys admitted to the practice of law in New\nYork state; and (iv) other persons with recognized expertise or\ndemonstrated interest in care and treatment of mentally disabled\npersons.\n  (d) A member who has failed to attend three consecutive meetings of\nthe committee or panel to which the member has been appointed shall be\nconsidered to have vacated his or her office unless the commission\ndetermines that the absences should be excused. The members shall be\nreimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses and shall be\nconsidered public officers for the purpose of sections seventeen,\nnineteen and seventy-four of the public officers law.\n  (e) The committees shall have available to them such staff and\nassistance as may be deemed necessary by the commission. In providing\nfor such staff and assistance, the commission may enter into agreements\nwith nonprofit organizations, including but not limited to community\ndispute resolution centers authorized under article twenty-one-A of the\njudiciary law, and the staff of such organizations in carrying out such\nfunctions shall be considered public officers for the purpose of\nsections seventeen, nineteen and seventy-four of the public officers\nlaw. Provided, however, the commission may not delegate pursuant to such\nagreements responsibility for the appointment of members to serve on\nsurrogate decision-making committees, the training of any such members,\nthe review of declarations, maintenance of the record of the hearing and\noriginal file, and general oversight of panel activities. Any\ninformation, books, records, or data which are confidential as provided\nfor by law, received by such an organization pursuant to an agreement\nwith the commission, shall be kept confidential by the organization, and\nany limitations on the further release thereof, imposed by law upon the\nparty furnishing the information, books, records or data, shall apply to\nthe organization.\n  (f) Each surrogate decision-making committee shall undertake its\nresponsibilities through panels composed of four of its members. The\nchairman of each committee or his or her designee shall designate the\nchairman of the panel who shall serve at the pleasure of the committee\nchairman or his or her designee.\n  (g) A panel shall be convened as often as deemed necessary by the\nchairman of the committee or his or her designee to assure timely review\nof pending declarations; provided, however, that neither article six nor\narticle seven of the public officers law shall apply to the conduct of\nsuch committee or panel. The proceedings of the panel may be conducted\nwith only three persons. Provided, however, if a panel chairperson\nreceives reasonable notice that a panel member will not be able to\nattend a panel hearing, such chairperson or his or her designee shall\nundertake efforts to identify another appropriate member of the\ncommittee to serve on such panel.\n  (h) No member who is a provider of health services or an officer or\nemployee of any provider of health services to a patient whose case is\nunder consideration by a panel may serve with respect to such patient.\n