Title: 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.
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 maintenance of video cameras for patient safety and law enforcement at VA medical centers.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 539 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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.

    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 CAMERAS AT MEDICAL CENTERS OF THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than one year 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 analyzing the policies, use, 
and maintenance of cameras deployed by the Department for patient 
safety and law enforcement at medical centers of the Department.
    (b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            (1) A comprehensive review of the policies and procedures 
        of the Department regarding the use and maintenance of cameras 
        at medical centers of the Department with respect to the 
        following:
                    (A) Patient safety, including--
                            (i) an analysis of how cameras are used to 
                        monitor staff and patients;
                            (ii) an analysis of the specific units 
                        within medical centers in which the use of 
                        cameras is prioritized to protect patient 
                        safety;
                            (iii) an analysis of the procedures 
                        regarding the positioning of cameras; and
                            (iv) an analysis of the extent to which 
                        cameras monitor locations where drugs are 
                        stored to ensure that drugs are accounted for, 
                        and an assessment of whether that is a widely 
                        used practice.
                    (B) Law enforcement, including--
                            (i) how exterior cameras are used;
                            (ii) how interior cameras are used; and
                            (iii) an analysis of locations, interior 
                        and exterior, in which use of cameras is 
                        prioritized.
            (2) Recommendations of the Secretary to improve patient 
        safety and law enforcement, including--
                    (A) the placement and maintenance of cameras at 
                medical centers of the Department;
                    (B) the storage of data from such cameras;
                    (C) the authority of supervisors at medical centers 
                of the Department to review recordings from such 
                cameras;
                    (D) the number of staff required to monitor live 
                footage from such cameras at each medical center of the 
                Department;
                    (E) the funding necessary to address shortfalls 
                with respect to the use of such cameras and the 
                specific uses for such funding; and
                    (F) such other matters as the Secretary determines 
                appropriate.
    (c) Camera Defined.--In this section, the term ``camera'' means any 
video camera used at a medical center of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs for purposes of patient safety or law enforcement.
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