                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MEDICAL CARE FACILITIES; PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; DESIGNATED SUPPORT PERSONS
(§ 32.1-137.08)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Activity of daily living&#8221; means a personal care task such as
bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and eating or feeding.
			&#8220;Admission&#8221; means (i) with regard to a medical care facility that
is a hospital or hospice facility, accepting a person for (a) bed occupancy and
care that is anticipated to span at least two midnights or (b) observation and
(ii) with regard to a medical care facility that is an outpatient surgical
hospital, accepting a person for care, irrespective of anticipated length of
care.
			&#8220;Care provider&#8221; means any person or entity responsible for the
care of a person with a disability prior to admission of the person with a
disability to a medical facility.
			&#8220;Designated support person&#8221; means a person who is 18 years of age
or older; knowledgeable about the needs of a person with a disability; and
designated, orally or in writing, by the person with a disability or his
guardian, authorized representative, or care provider to provide support and
assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person&#8217;s disability to
the person with a disability at any time during which health care services are
provided.
			&#8220;Medical care facility&#8221; means a hospital licensed pursuant to
this article that provides inpatient care, other than a hospital that is
certified as a long-term acute care hospital or specialty rehabilitation
hospital; an outpatient surgical hospital licensed or certified pursuant to this
article; a hospice facility licensed pursuant to Article 7 (&#xA7; 32.1-162.1 et
seq.); and any institution exempt from licensure pursuant to clause (vi) of
&#xA7; 32.1-124.
			&#8220;Person with a disability&#8221; means a person who, prior to admission
to a medical care facility, had a physical, sensory, mental, or emotional
impairment that substantially limits one or more activities of daily living or
has a record of such impairment.
			&#8220;Support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability&#8221; means support and assistance, including
assistance with activities of daily living, communication, decision-making, and
other supports, that is (i) necessary due to the absence, loss, diminution, or
impairment of a physical, sensory, behavioral, cognitive, or emotional function
of the person due to the specifics of his disability; (ii) provided by a
designated support person; (iii) ongoing; and (iv) necessary for the care of,
and to afford meaningful access to health care for, the person with a
disability.

B. Every medical care facility shall allow a person with a disability who
requires support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability to be accompanied by a designated support person who
will provide support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability to the person with a disability during an admission.
In any case in which the duration of the admission lasts more than 24 hours, the
person with a disability may designate more than one designated support person.
However, no medical care facility shall be required to allow more than one
designated support person to be present with a person with a disability at any
time.

C. A designated support person is not a visitor and shall not be subject to any
restrictions on visitation adopted by a medical care facility. However, such
designated support person may be required to comply with all reasonable
requirements of the medical care facility adopted to protect the health and
safety of the person with a disability; the designated support person; the staff
and other patients of, or visitors to, the medical care facility; and the
public. A medical care facility may restrict a designated support person&#8217;s
access to specified areas of and movement on the premises of the medical care
facility when such restrictions are determined by the medical care facility to
be reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of the person with a
disability; the designated support person; the staff and other patients of, or
visitors to, the medical care facility; and the public.

D. A medical care facility may request that a person with a disability provide
documentation indicating that he is a person with a disability and, if the
person fails, refuses, or is unable to provide such documentation, perform an
objective assessment of the person to determine whether he is a person with a
disability; however, the failure of a hospital to perform such objective
assessment shall not constitute grounds for prohibiting a designated support
person from accompanying a person with a disability for the purpose of providing
support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person&#8217;s
disability.

E. Every medical care facility shall (i) establish protocols to inform patients,
at the time of admission, of the right of a person with a disability who
requires support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability to be accompanied by a designated support person for
the purpose of providing support and assistance necessary due to the specifics
of the person&#8217;s disability and (ii) develop and make available to a
patient, the patient&#8217;s guardian, the patient&#8217;s authorized
representative, or the person&#8217;s care provider upon request of the patient,
guardian, authorized representative, or care provider written information
regarding the right of a person with a disability who requires support and
assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person&#8217;s disability to be
accompanied by a designated support person and policies related thereto. Every
medical care facility shall also make such written information available to the
public on its website.

F. The Department shall develop and make available on its website information
for the public regarding (i) the right of a person with a disability who
requires support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability to be accompanied by a designated support person who
will provide support and assistance necessary due to the specifics of the
person&#8217;s disability to the person with a disability during an admission
and (ii) the requirements of this section.

G. Nothing in this section shall alter the obligation of a medical care facility
to provide patients with effective communication support or other required
services, regardless of the presence of a designated support person or other
reasonable accommodation, consistent with applicable federal or state law or
regulations.

H. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to (i) prevent a medical care
facility from complying, or interfere with the ability of a medical care
facility to comply, with or cause a medical care facility to violate any federal
or state law or regulation, (ii) deem a designated support person to be acting
under the direction or control of the medical care facility or as an agent of
the medical care facility, or (iii) require any medical care facility to allow a
designated support person to perform any action or provide any support or
assistance necessary due to the specifics of the person&#8217;s disability when
the medical care facility reasonably determines that the performance of such
action or provision of such support or assistance necessary due to the specifics
of the person&#8217;s disability would be medically or therapeutically
contraindicated or would pose a threat to the health and safety of the person
with a disability; the designated support person; or the staff or other patients
of, or visitors to, the medical care facility.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 220.