Pennsylvania Governor To Sign Bills Addressing Hospital Infections, Assisted-Living Facilities, Nurses

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: MRSA / Drug Resistance;  Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy;  Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 25 Jul 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) signed into law two bills related to health care and is expected this week to sign another health care bill. Summaries of newspaper coverage of the bills appear below.

• Assisted-living facilities: Rendell this week is expected to sign a bill that would "place tough new regulations" on assisted-living facilities, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Under current law, the same rules apply to all homes for the elderly and people with disabilities. The bill would require assisted-living facilities to be licensed by the state, meet new staff-training standards and undergo unannounced inspections at least once a year. The bill also would define "for the first time" what services assisted-living facilities must provide, the Inquirer reports (Phillips, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/20).
  
  
• Infections: Rendell on Friday signed into law a bill that will require hospitals to test their highest-risk patients and patients admitted from nursing homes for infections that are resistant to antibiotics as part of his "Prescription for Pennsylvania" plan, the Inquirer reports. Hospital staff who are in contact with contagious patients also will be required to be tested for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The bill, which will provide higher reimbursements to hospitals that meet benchmarks in preventing infections, will require most hospitals to install software to assist in tracking infections. Moreover, hospitals will be required to report infections to CDC, which then would provide the information to state agencies in Pennsylvania. The law will be phased in over several years (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/20).
  
  
• Nurses: Rendell on Friday signed into law a bill that will loosen restrictions on the types of care certified nurse practitioners can provide, the Inquirer reports. The legislation also is part of the "Prescription for Pennsylvania" plan. For example, nurse practitioners will be allowed to treat chronically ill patients from home and to refer patients to dieticians, occupational therapists and other specialists. "Pennsylvania is one of the last states" to grant such responsibilities to nurse practitioners, and is doing so in an attempt to "reduce health care costs and increase access to treatment," the Inquirer reports. The bill also will allow certified midwives to prescribe medicine and will increase the number of physician assistants that a doctor can supervise to four from two (Roarty, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/20).
  

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