2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 28 - Hospitals › 2805-B - Admission of Patients and Emergency Treatment of Nonadmitted Patients.

§ 2805-b. Admission of patients and emergency treatment of nonadmitted
patients.  1.  Every  general  hospital shall admit any person who is in
need of immediate hospitalization with all convenient  speed  and  shall
not  before  admission  question the patient or any member of his or her
family concerning insurance, credit or  payment  of  charges,  provided,
however,  that  the patient or a member of his or her family shall agree
to supply such  information  promptly  after  the  patient's  admission.
However,  no general hospital shall require any patient or member of his
or her family to write or to sign during those times when the  religious
tenets  of  such  person temporarily prohibit him or her from performing
such acts. No general hospital shall transfer  any  patient  to  another
hospital  or  health  care  facility  on the grounds that the patient is
unable to pay or guarantee payment for services rendered. Every  general
hospital  which maintains facilities for providing out-patient emergency
medical care must provide such care to any person who, in the opinion of
a physician, requires such care.
2. In cities with a population of one million or more, (a)  a  general
hospital  shall  provide  emergency  medical  care  and treatment to all
persons in need of such care and treatment who arrive at the entrance to
such hospital therefor. Any general hospital which fails to provide such
treatment shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.  However,  the  commissioner
may  exempt  a general hospital from the provisions of this paragraph if
he determines such general hospital is structured to provide specialized
or limited treatment.
(b) Any licensed medical practitioner who refuses to  treat  a  person
arriving  at  a  general hospital to receive emergency medical treatment
who is in need of such treatment;  or  any  person  who  in  any  manner
excludes,  obstructs  or  interferes  with the ingress of another person
into a general hospital who appears  there  for  the  purpose  of  being
examined  or  diagnosed  or  treated;  or  any  person  who obstructs or
prevents such other person from being examined or diagnosed  or  treated
by  an  attending physician thereat shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
subject to a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year and a fine  not
to  exceed  one  thousand  dollars.  Any  emergency  medical technician,
paramedic or ambulance driver who  transports  a  person  to  a  general
hospital  where  such person is refused entrance by anyone or is refused
examination, diagnosis or treatment by an  attending  physician  thereat
shall  report  all such incidents to the state commissioner of health or
his designee, on a form which shall be promulgated by such commissioner.
After examination, diagnosis and treatment by an attending physician and
where, in the opinion of such physician, the patient has been stabilized
sufficiently to permit it, subsequent medical care may  be  provided  or
procured  by  the  general hospital at a location other than the general
hospital if, in the opinion of the attending physician,  it  is  in  the
best  interest of the patient because the general hospital does not have
the proper equipment or personnel at hand to deal  with  the  particular
medical  emergency  or  because all appropriate beds are filled and none
are likely to become  available  within  a  reasonable  time  after  the
patient has been stabilized.
(c)  Whenever  a  previously  stabilized  emergency  room  patient  is
thereafter transferred for medical care to another location by means  of
an  ambulance,  the  attending physician authorizing the transfer in the
general hospital from which the patient is transferred  shall  determine
that  a  receiving  hospital  is  available  and willing to receive such
patient and that an attending physician thereat is available and willing
to admit such patient. Just prior to the transfer, the emergency medical
technician or  paramedic  assigned  to  accompany  the  patient  in  the
ambulance shall be provided with a completed form which shall include at

least  the  following information and such additional information as the
commissioner may require:
(i) the patient's name;
(ii) the diagnosed condition of the patient;
(iii) any treatment administered to the patient;
(iv) any medication given to the patient;
(v) the name of the physician ordering the transfer;
(vi)  the  name  of  the  hospital  from  which  the  patient is being
transferred;
(vii) the name of the physician or physicians who is  or  are  willing
and authorized to receive the patient at the new location;
(viii)  the  name of the hospital or other facility that is to receive
the patient;
(ix) the date and time of transfer; and
(x) the signature of the physician ordering the transfer.
The form for this purpose shall be promulgated by the commissioner and
distributed to all general hospitals in any  such  city.  The  completed
form  shall  be  given  to the receiving facility upon completion of the
ambulance trip for use by the receiving physician.
* 3. A general hospital within a city with a population of one million
or more may request the emergency medical service of such city's  health
and   hospitals   corporation  or  any  person,  firm,  organization  or
corporation providing ambulance service to divert ambulances to  another
hospital only under the following circumstances:
A  request  for  diversion of emergency patients with life threatening
conditions shall only be made  by  a  hospital  when  acceptance  of  an
additional critical patient may endanger the life of that patient or the
life  of another patient. A request for the diversion of other emergency
patients shall only be made when all appropriate  beds  are  filled  and
shall  be  withdrawn  as soon as a bed is available. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, all requests for diversion must be renewed at  the  beginning
of  each  tour of duty as designated by the emergency medical service of
such city's health and hospitals corporation.
Diversion of patients with certain medical conditions  which,  in  the
best  interest  of  the  patients,  require  their transport directly to
specialty referral centers shall be permitted following the  designation
of   such   specialty  referral  centers.  Diversion  of  patients  with
psychiatric conditions to comprehensive psychiatric emergency  programs,
as  such  term is defined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law, and
subject to the provisions of section 31.27 of such law,  shall  only  be
permitted following the designation of the programs by the commissioners
of health and mental health to receive such patients.
* NB Effective until July 1, 2027
* 3. A general hospital within a city with a population of one million
or  more may request the emergency medical service of such city's health
and  hospitals  corporation  or  any  person,  firm,   organization   or
corporation  providing ambulance service to divert ambulances to another
hospital only under the following circumstances:
A request for diversion of emergency patients  with  life  threatening
conditions  shall  only  be  made  by  a  hospital when acceptance of an
additional critical patient may endanger the life of that patient or the
life of another patient. A request for the diversion of other  emergency
patients  shall  only  be  made when all appropriate beds are filled and
shall be withdrawn as soon as a bed is  available.  Notwithstanding  the
foregoing,  all  requests for diversion must be renewed at the beginning
of each tour of duty as designated by the emergency medical  service  of
such city's health and hospitals corporation.
Diversion  of  patients  with certain medical conditions which, in the
best interest of the  patients,  require  their  transport  directly  to
specialty  referral centers shall be permitted following the designation
of such specialty referral centers.
* NB Effective July 1, 2027
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny to the attending
physician the right to evaluate the medical needs of persons arriving at
the  hospital  for  emergency  treatment  and  to  delay or deny medical
treatment where, in the opinion of the attending  physician,  no  actual
medical  emergency  exists.  However,  no  person  actually  in  need of
emergency treatment, as determined by the attending physician, shall  be
denied  such treatment by a general hospital in cities with a population
of one million or more for any reason whatsoever.
5. The staff of a general hospital shall: (a) inquire whether  or  not
the  person  admitted has served in the United States armed forces. Such
information shall be listed on  the  admissions  form;  (b)  notify  any
admittee  who is a veteran of the possible availability of services at a
hospital operated by the United States veterans  health  administration,
and,  upon  request  by the admittee, such staff shall make arrangements
for the  individual's  transfer  to  a  United  States  veterans  health
administration  hospital,  provided,  however,  that  transfers shall be
authorized only after it has  been  determined,  according  to  accepted
clinical  and  medical  standards,  that  the  patient's  condition  has
stabilized  and  transfer  can  be  accomplished  safely   and   without
complication;  and (c) provide any admittee who has served in the United
States armed forces  with  a  copy  of  the  "Information  for  Veterans
concerning Health Care Options" fact sheet, maintained by the department
of  veterans'  services  pursuant  to subdivision twenty-nine of section
four of the veterans' services law prior to discharging or  transferring
the patient. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for
notifying   such  admittees  of  possible  available  services  and  for
arranging a requested transfer.