Title: A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report on its policies and procedures relating to the usage and placement of security cameras throughout VA medical centers and the role such cameras play in securing the medical center and maintaining patient privacy and safety.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4778 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4778

 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a 
    report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the 
                    Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 1, 2020

  Mrs. Capito (for herself and Mr. Manchin) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a 
    report on the use of security cameras in medical centers of the 
                    Department of Veterans Affairs.

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

SECTION 1. REPORT ON USE OF SECURITY CAMERAS IN MEDICAL CENTERS OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
collaboration with the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health 
Administration, and the Office of Construction and Facilities 
Management of the Department, shall submit to the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
of the House of Representatives a report regarding the policies and 
procedures of the Department relating to the usage and placement of 
security cameras throughout medical centers of the Department and the 
role such cameras play in patient safety, security of the medical 
center, and maintaining patient privacy.
    (b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            (1) A specification of the policies and procedures of the 
        Department regarding the use of security cameras at medical 
        centers of the Department with respect to the following:
                    (A) How the Department uses security cameras to 
                protect patients, including--
                            (i) an identification of the specific units 
                        within medical centers in which the use of 
                        security cameras is prioritized to protect 
                        patient safety;
                            (ii) a description of the procedures that 
                        are in place to position security cameras to 
                        ensure that staff of the Department are 
                        properly caring for patients;
                            (iii) a description of how the Department 
                        uses security cameras to monitor staff;
                            (iv) a description of the extent to which 
                        medical centers install security cameras to 
                        monitor all locations where drugs are stored to 
                        ensure that drugs are accounted for, and an 
                        assessment of whether this is a widely used 
                        practice; and
                            (v) a description of improvements that can 
                        be made by the Department regarding the 
                        placement of security cameras and the storage 
                        of data from such cameras to better hold staff 
                        accountable and ensure the safety of patients.
                    (B) The extent to which the Department requires the 
                use of security cameras at medical centers to enhance 
                overall security, including--
                            (i) a description of how exterior security 
                        cameras are used;
                            (ii) a description of how interior security 
                        cameras are used; and
                            (iii) an identification of the locations, 
                        interior and exterior, in which the Department 
                        prioritizes the use of security cameras.
                    (C) The patient privacy policy of the Department 
                with respect to the placement of security cameras, 
                including--
                            (i) the extent to which the Department 
                        authorizes security cameras to be placed 
                        outside of patient rooms to monitor who enters 
                        the room; and
                            (ii) an identification of areas within 
                        medical centers where the use of security 
                        cameras is banned.
            (2) Recommendations for improving patient security and 
        ensuring that staff is held accountable, including--
                    (A) recommendations with respect to--
                            (i) how the Department could better use 
                        security cameras to protect the safety of 
                        patients;
                            (ii) the manner in which the Department can 
                        better authorize direct supervisors to monitor 
                        footage from security cameras;
                            (iii) specific units within medical centers 
                        in which the use of security cameras should be 
                        required to hold staff accountable;
                            (iv) the amount of funding necessary to 
                        address shortfalls with respect to security 
                        cameras and the specific uses for such funding; 
                        and
                            (v) the number of staff that each medical 
                        center should have monitoring footage from 
                        security cameras at all times; and
                    (B) reasoning as to whether or not the Secretary 
                would recommend that every hallway of each medical 
                center have at least one security camera.
            (3) Such other matters as the Secretary considers 
        necessary.
                                 <all>