bill requiring infection control programs at long-term care facilities

The text as introduced · 1,135 words

89R10001 MCF-D

By: Campos
H.B. No. 2374

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to infection prevention and control programs and other

communicable diseases measures at certain long-term care

facilities; authorizing an administrative penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 81.014, Health and Safety Code, is

amended to read as follows:

Sec. 81.014. LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION PREVENTION

AND CONTROL PROGRAMS [ PROGRAM ]. (a) Each long-term care facility

shall, with advice from and subject to the approval of a quality

assessment and assurance committee designated under Subsection

(c), establish and maintain an [ facility's ] infection prevention

and control program designed to:

(1) provide to facility residents and personnel a

safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment; and

(2) assist with preventing the development and

transmission of communicable diseases and infections among

facility residents and personnel.

(b) A long-term care facility's infection prevention and

control program must include:

(1) monitoring of key infectious agents, including

multidrug-resistant organisms; [ and ]

(2) procedures for making rapid influenza diagnostic

tests available to facility residents and personnel; and

(3) procedures for ensuring rapid antigen COVID-19

viral tests are available to facility residents and personnel as

needed .

(c) Each long-term care facility shall designate a quality

assessment and assurance committee to approve and monitor the

facility's infection prevention and control program. The facility's

committee membership must include:

(1) the facility's director of nursing or an

equivalent consultant of the facility;

(2) the facility's medical director or the director's

designee;

(3) not less than three facility employees, at least

one of whom must be a facility administrator, a facility board

member, or another individual in a leadership position with the

facility; and

(4) the facility's primary infection preventionist

designated under Section 81.0145.

(d) A long-term care facility's quality assessment and

assurance committee shall:

(1) conduct an annual review of the facility's

infection prevention and control program and modify the program as

necessary; and

(2) present the findings of each review conducted

under Subdivision (1) to facility residents and personnel at annual

meetings that are open to the public.

(e) A long-term care facility's primary infection

preventionist designated under Section 81.0145 shall:

(1) with the assistance of the facility's secondary

infection preventionist designated under that section, implement

the facility's infection prevention and control program; and

(2) submit regular reports to the facility's quality

assessment and assurance committee on the implementation of the

program.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Health and Safety

Code, is amended by adding Sections 81.0145 and 81.0146 to read as

follows:

Sec. 81.0145. LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY INFECTION

PREVENTIONISTS. (a) Each long-term care facility shall designate

a primary and a secondary infection preventionist. The primary and

secondary infection preventionists must:

(1) have professional training or other specialized

training in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, or another

related field;

(2) have completed specialized training in infection

prevention and control;

(3) work at least part-time at the facility; and

(4) annually complete at least eight hours of training

the commission approves related to infectious diseases and

vaccinations.

(b) A long-term care facility's primary infection

preventionist and, under the direction of the primary infection

preventionist, secondary infection preventionist shall:

(1) implement the facility's infection prevention and

control program in the manner described by Section 81.014;

(2) serve as the facility's contact for the local

health department or health authority to notify of a potential

exposure to a reportable disease at the facility;

(3) notify the local health department or health

authority of a potential exposure to a reportable disease at the

facility not later than eight hours from the time of exposure;

(4) notify facility residents, personnel, and

resident representatives not later than 12 hours from the time a

reportable disease at the facility is verified;

(5) investigate and evaluate incidents in which

facility residents or personnel were or may have been exposed to a

communicable disease, using current evidence-based information on

the possible risks associated with exposure to the communicable

disease;

(6) implement control measures to prevent the spread

of infection of a communicable disease among facility residents and

personnel, including:

(A) immunization;

(B) detention;

(C) restrictions;

(D) disinfection;

(E) decontamination;

(F) isolation;

(G) quarantine;

(H) disinfestation;

(I) chemoprophylaxis;

(J) preventive therapy;

(K) prevention methods; and

(L) education;

(7) in accordance with applicable law, monitor all

treatment provided to a facility resident or employee who is

exposed to and as a result of that exposure infected with a

communicable disease at the facility;

(8) maintain records of and respond in a timely

manner, as the facility determines, to each communicable disease

complaint made by facility residents, personnel, or resident

representatives;

(9) as required by the executive commissioner, submit

to the department or the local health department or health

authority accurate information on the total number of reportable

disease cases among facility residents or personnel; and

(10) perform other duties for the facility as assigned

by the executive commissioner.

(c) A primary or secondary infection preventionist may not

serve concurrently as an infection preventionist for more than

three long-term care facilities.

(d) Each long-term care facility shall provide to the local

health department or health authority the names and qualifications

of the facility's primary and secondary infection preventionists.

Sec. 81.0146. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY RELATED TO LONG-TERM

CARE FACILITY COMMUNICABLE DISEASE AND PREVENTION CONTROL

MEASURES. (a) The commission may impose an administrative penalty

against a long-term care facility that violates Section 81.014 or

81.0145 in an amount the executive commissioner determines in

accordance with commission rules.

(b) The amount of an administrative penalty imposed under

this section shall be based on:

(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the

nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of any prohibited acts,

and the hazard or potential hazard created to the health and safety

of facility residents and personnel;

(2) enforcement costs relating to the violation;

(3) the history of previous violations;

(4) the amount necessary to deter future violations;

(5) efforts to correct the violation; and

(6) any other matter that justice may require.

SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective

date of this Act, each long-term care facility licensed under

Chapter 242, 247, or 252, Health and Safety Code, shall:

(1) establish an infection prevention and control

program and designate a quality assessment and assurance committee

to approve the program as required by Section 81.014, Health and

Safety Code, as amended by this Act; and

(2) designate a primary and a secondary infection

preventionist as required by Section 81.0145, Health and Safety

Code, as added by this Act.

(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this

Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services

Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes

in law made by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.