In continuing efforts to address problems exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 18, 2021, the Governor signed legislation (S.1168-A/A.108-B) into law to address an urgent public policy priority related to clinical staffing in hospitals licensed pursuant to Article 28 of the New York State Public Health Law. This legislation requires the establishment of clinical staffing committees to create plans to more effectively distribute staff throughout general hospitals. The staffing committees must consist of at least fifty percent (50%) of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and ancillary staff providing direct patient care, and up to fifty percent (50%) of hospital administrators, including, but not limited to, the chief financial officer, the chief nursing officer, and patient care unit directors or managers or their designees. The staffing committees shall create staffing plans with guidelines as to how many patients are assigned to each nurse, as well as how each unit is staffed with ancillary staff, based on patient needs and ratios, matrices or grids, which shall be used as the primary component of the general hospital staffing budget, provided that such staffing plans meet or exceed the terms of existing collective bargaining agreements.
The staffing committees are charged with the development of the staffing plans, and hospitals shall then adopt and submit the plans to the New York State Department of Health (“DOH”) by July 1, 2022. The staffing plans must be reviewed internally semiannually, updated annually by July 1, and implemented thereafter by January 1 of the following year. In addition, the staffing plans must be posted in publicly conspicuous areas in each patient unit of hospitals, and on the DOH hospital profile website. The staffing committees are also charged with review, assessment and response to complaints regarding potential violations, staffing variations or other concerns.
Continue Reading New York State Approves Establishment of Clinical Staffing Committees in General Hospitals