II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 539 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report 

on the use of video cameras for patient safety and law enforcement 

at medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BRAUN, and Ms. 

SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a report on the use of video cameras for patient 

safety and law enforcement at medical centers of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. REPORT ON USE OF CAMERAS AT MEDICAL 

4 CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET5 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs, in collaboration with the Office of OpVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S539.IS S539

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1 erations, Security, and Preparedness of the Department 

2 of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, 

3 and the Office of Construction and Facilities Management 

4 of the Department, shall submit to the Committee on Vet5 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet6 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

7 analyzing the policies, use, and maintenance of cameras 

8 deployed by the Department for patient safety and law 

9 enforcement at medical centers of the Department. 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

11 (a) shall include the following: 

12 (1) A comprehensive review of the policies and 

13 procedures of the Department regarding the use and 

14 maintenance of cameras at medical centers of the 

15 Department with respect to the following: 

16 (A) Patient safety, including— 

17 (i) an analysis of how cameras are 

18 used to monitor staff and patients; 

19 (ii) an analysis of the specific units 

20 within medical centers in which the use of 

21 cameras is prioritized to protect patient 

22 safety; 

23 (iii) an analysis of the procedures re24 garding the positioning of cameras; and 


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1 (iv) an analysis of the extent to which 

2 cameras monitor locations where drugs are 

3 stored to ensure that drugs are accounted 

4 for, and an assessment of whether that is 

5 a widely used practice. 

6 (B) Law enforcement, including— 

7 (i) how exterior cameras are used; 

8 (ii) how interior cameras are used; 

9 and 

10 (iii) an analysis of locations, interior 

11 and exterior, in which use of cameras is 

12 prioritized. 

13 (2) Recommendations of the Secretary to im14 prove patient safety and law enforcement, includ15 ing— 

16 (A) the placement and maintenance of 

17 cameras at medical centers of the Department; 

18 (B) the storage of data from such cameras; 

19 (C) the authority of supervisors at medical 

20 centers of the Department to review recordings 

21 from such cameras; 

22 (D) the number of staff required to mon23 itor live footage from such cameras at each 

24 medical center of the Department; 


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1 (E) the funding necessary to address 

2 shortfalls with respect to the use of such cam3 eras and the specific uses for such funding; and 

4 (F) such other matters as the Secretary 

5 determines appropriate. 

6 (c) CAMERA DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘camera’’ means any video camera used at a medical cen8 ter of the Department of Veterans Affairs for purposes 

9 of patient safety or law enforcement. 

Æ 


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