S2566 S2677 SCS

Sponsored by:

Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.

District 18 (Middlesex)

Senator VIN GOPAL

District 11 (Monmouth)

Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE

District 19 (Middlesex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Lagana, Pou and Greenstein

SYNOPSIS

Requires long-term care facilities to maintain minimum supply of personal protective equipment.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Substitute as adopted by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

An Act concerning personal protective equipment in long-term care facilities and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. Each long-term care facility shall maintain an adequate emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment necessary to meet the facility’s need for personal protective equipment for:

(1) In the case of a facility that is part of a system that owns or operates eight or more facilities, 30 days;

(2) In the case of a facility that is part of a system that owns or operates fewer than eight facilities, 60 days; and

For the purposes of meeting the requirements of this subsection, a facility that is not part of a system or that is part of a system that owns or operates fewer than eight facilities may enter into a collaborative agreement with other facilities or with one or more systems, which collaborative agreement shall be deemed to render the facility part of a system comprising of the health care facility and any other health care facilities that are party to the collaborative agreement or that are part of a system that is party to the collaborative agreement. The collaborative agreement shall, at a minimum, include protocols for sharing personal protective equipment among facilities that are part of the system established pursuant to the collaborative agreement.

b. In determining the quantity of personal protective equipment a facility will need to maintain in order to meet the requirements of this section, the facility shall:

(1) take into account prevailing conditions in the State that may affect the need for and availability of personal protective equipment;

(2) take into account anticipated surges, over the next 90 days, in the need for personal protective equipment at that facility and at other facilities that are part of the same system as the facility; and

(3) utilize any burn rate calculator or other tool as the Department of Health may designate for use in determining the anticipated need for personal protective equipment.

The facility shall immediately reevaluate the adequacy of its stockpile of personal protective equipment upon any declaration of a public health emergency pursuant to P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-1 et seq.) in response to an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic involving an infectious disease, and shall acquire such additional supplies of personal protective equipment as it determines are necessary to meet increases in the need for and use of personal protective equipment during the public health emergency.

c. The Department of Health may impose fines or other administrative remedies against any facility that violates the requirements of this section.

d. As used in this section:

"Long-term care facility" means a nursing home, assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, residential health care facility, or dementia care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).

“Personal protective equipment” means any items commonly used to protect an individual from bacterial or viral infections, including, but not limited to, disinfecting wipes, disposable gloves, disposable gowns, face shields, N95 face masks, surgical masks, or parts thereof.

2. The Commissioner of Health may adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.