BILL NUMBER: SB 210	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Bowen

                        FEBRUARY 10, 2005

   An act to amend Section 1442.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to county medical facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 210, as introduced, Bowen.   County medical facilities:
services reduction: notice.
   Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors in each county to
establish and maintain a county hospital and prescribe rules for the
government and management thereof. Prior to closing, eliminating or
reducing the level of medical services provided by, or leasing,
selling, or transferring management of, a county facility, existing
law requires the board to provide public notice of public hearings to
be held by the board prior to its decision to proceed. Existing law
requires the notice to be posted not less than 14 days prior to the
public hearings.
   This bill would increase the amount of time prior to the public
hearings that the notice must be posted from 14 days to 30 days.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1442.5 of the  Health and Safety Code  is
amended to read:
   1442.5.  (a) Prior to (1) closing , (2) eliminating or reducing
the level of medical services provided by, or (3) the leasing,
selling, or transfer of management of, a county facility, the board
shall provide public notice, including notice posted at the entrance
to all county health care facilities, of public hearings to be held
by the board prior to its decision to proceed. The notice shall be
posted not less than  14   30  days prior
to the public hearings. The notice shall contain a list of the
proposed reductions or changes, by facility and service. The notice
shall include the amount and type of each proposed change, the
expected savings, and the number of persons affected. (b)
Notwithstanding the board's closing of, the elimination of or
reduction in the level of services provided by, or the leasing,
selling, or transfer of management of, a county facility subsequent
to January 1, 1975, the county shall fulfill its duty to provide care
to all indigent people, either directly through county facilities or
indirectly through alternative means.
   (1) Where the county duty is fulfilled by a contractual
arrangement with a private facility or individual, the facility or
individual shall assume the county's full obligation to provide care
to those who cannot afford it, and make their services available to
Medi-Cal and Medicare recipients.
   (2) Where the county duty is fulfilled by alternative means, the
facility or individual providing services shall be in compliance with
Sections 441.18 and 1277.
   (3) The board shall designate an agency to provide a 24-hour
information service that can give eligible people immediate
information on the available services and access to them, and an
agency to receive and respond to complaints from people eligible for
services under this chapter. The designated agency may be the agency
that operates the facility. This subdivision applies only in
instances in which there is (1) a closing of, (2) an elimination or
reduction in the level of services provided by, or (3) the leasing,
selling, or transfer of, a county facility.
   (4) The board shall arrange for all facilities or individuals
contracting to provide services to indigent people to be listed in
the local telephone directory under county listings, and shall
specify therein that the facilities or individuals fulfill the
obligations of county facilities.
   (5) Section 25371 of the Government Code does not relieve the
county of the obligation to comply with this section.