New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter IV - Health Information Systems › Part 360 - Surge and Flex System › Section 360.2 - Surge and Flex Health Care Coordination System Requirements

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) In the event of
				a declared State disaster emergency, the Commissioner shall have all necessary
				authority and procedures to activate the Surge and Flex Health Care
				Coordination System (hereinafter "Surge and Flex System"), including the
				following:
(1)
Increase Bed
				Capacity
. At the Commissioner's direction, which shall be
				incremental and geographically targeted, health care facilities shall increase
				by up to 50% the number of acute care beds and/or change the service categories
				of beds certified or otherwise approved in any entity regulated by the
				Department. At the Commissioner's direction, health care facilities shall
				postpone up to 100% of non-essential elective procedures or allow such
				procedures only pursuant to such conditions as the Commissioner may determine.
				The Department shall establish procedures to approve temporary changes at
				regulated health care facilities to physical plants, to facilitate the
				increased capacity and shall expedite review of construction applications
				related to temporary locations, provided that schematics are filed with the
				Department and patient safety is maintained.
(2)
Enhanced Staffing
				Capacity
. Health care facilities shall establish plans to meet
				enhanced staffing levels sufficient to ensure that the increased bed capacity
				has adequate staffing. The Commissioner may further expand or modify criteria
				for staffing. Health care facilities shall have access to a State-run portal
				for staffing needs identifying both volunteers and available staff; whether
				licensed or registered in New York State, or authorized or licensed to practice
				in any other state or Canada.
(3)
Availability of Supplies and PPE
. Health care
				facilities shall maintain and actively manage a supply of personal protective
				equipment (PPE) appropriate for use during a declared health emergency that
				could last at least 60-days pursuant to Section
				405.11(g) of this
				Title. The Commissioner shall have all necessary authority to re-distribute the
				resources of a regulated entity if there is a determination that such resources
				are limited and in order to preserve the health and safety of New Yorkers,
				including:
(i) Requiring that any medical or
				other equipment that is held in inventory by any entity in the State, or
				otherwise located in the State, be reported to the Department, in a form and
				with such frequency as the Commissioner may determine.
(ii) Requiring that the patient census be
				reported to the Department, in a form and with such frequency as the
				Commissioner may determine.
(iii)
				For any infectious and communicable disease, ensuring that testing results are
				reported immediately if positive, and as determined by the Commissioner if such
				testing results are negative, via the electronic clinical laboratory reporting
				system or as the Commissioner may determine.
(iv) Suspending or restricting visitation, in
				accordance with the need to conserve PPE, and subject to such conditions or
				limitations as the Commissioner may determine.
(4)
Statewide
				Coordination
.
(i)
Discharging, transfer, and receiving of patients
.
				Health care facilities regulated by the Department shall, if directed to do so
				by the Commissioner, rapidly discharge, transfer, or receive patients, while
				protecting the health and safety of such patients and residents, and consistent
				with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). The
				Department shall coordinate with health care facilities to balance individual
				facility patient load, and may promulgate further directives to specify the
				method and manner of transfer or discharge.
(ii)
Designating Health Care
				Facilities as Trauma Centers
. The Department is authorized to
				designate an entity as a trauma center; extend or modify the period for which
				an entity may be designated as a trauma center; or modify the review team for
				assessment of a trauma center; or change the level of acuity designation or
				health services of a facility or other determination about patient care as
				appropriate, including restricting admission or treatment to patients with a
				particular diagnosis.
(iii)
Maintaining a Statewide Health Care Data Management
				System
. Health care facilities or health systems shall report as
				directed by the Department any information necessary to implement the Surge and
				Flex System (e.g. available hospital beds, equipment available and in use) and
				the Department shall use that health facility or health system data in order to
				monitor, coordinate, and manage during the
				emergency.