00                       CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 8(FIN)                                                                    
01 "An Act relating to a mental health patient's right to choose the gender of hospital staff                              
02 providing intimate care to the mental health patient and to the duties of hospital staff in                             
03 caring for patients receiving mental health treatment."                                                                 
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
05    * Section 1. AS 18.20 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
06            Sec. 18.20.095. Mental health patient's right to select staff; duties of                                   
07       hospital staff. (a) Except as provided in (d) of this section, a patient 18 years of age or                     
08       older who is receiving mental health treatment and being provided intimate care at a                              
09       hospital shall have a right to have care provided by a staff member who is the gender                             
10       that the patient requests.                                                                                        
11            (b)  A supervisor or manager employed by a hospital shall                                                    
12                 (1)  post a notice of the right provided under (a) of this section in a                                 
13       conspicuous place; and                                                                                            
14                 (2)  if, after reasonable and good faith efforts to comply, the hospital is                             

01       unable to comply with the requirement under (a) of this section,                                                  
02                      (A)  document in the patient record that intimate care was                                         
03            provided by a licensed staff member of the gender opposite to the gender                                     
04            requested by the patient under (a) of this section; or                                                       
05                      (B)  if a licensed staff member is not on duty at the time of the                                  
06            patient's request under (a) of this section, document in the patient record that                             
07            the care was provided by an unlicensed staff member of the gender opposite to                                
08            that requested under (a) of this section.                                                                    
09            (c)  Staff members employed by a hospital shall, in regard to patients receiving                             
10       mental health treatment,                                                                                          
11                 (1)  provide privacy for each patient, especially for patients who are the                              
12       opposite gender and especially when patient care involves intimate bodily functions,                              
13       unavoidable intimate touching, or nudity;                                                                         
14                 (2)  except when necessitated by a medical emergency that is                                            
15       documented in the patient's record, avoid entering patient care areas for a person of the                         
16       opposite gender and areas specified for persons of the opposite gender; and                                       
17                 (3)  only conduct routine safety checks and rounds of bedrooms,                                         
18       bathrooms, and shower areas of a patient who is the same gender as the staff member.                              
19            (d)  A hospital is exempt from the requirements of (a) of this section if the                                
20       treating psychiatrist for the patient at the hospital determines that compliance would                            
21       adversely affect patient treatment and the psychiatrist documents the determination in                            
22       the patient's record.                                                                                             
23            (e)  In this section,                                                                                        
24                 (1)  "intimate care" means hygienic care, including bathing, dressing,                                  
25       changing, and toileting that involves a patient's perineal area and, for a female patient,                        
26       the patient's breasts; "intimate care" does not include activities done in preparation for                        
27       medical procedures;                                                                                               
28                 (2)  "licensed staff member" means a person who is employed by the                                      
29       hospital to provide direct patient care and who is licensed or certified in the state as a                        
30       physician or physician assistant under AS 08.64, direct-entry midwife under AS 08.65,                             
31       nurse or nurse aide under AS 08.68, or physical therapist or occupational therapist                               

01       under AS 08.84;                                                                                                   
02                 (3)  "mental health treatment" means admission to a hospital primarily                                  
03       for electroconvulsive treatment or treatment with psychotropic medication, or                                     
04       admission to and retention in a health care institution for other mental health                                   
05       treatment;                                                                                                        
06                 (4)  "staff member" means a person employed by a hospital to provide                                    
07       direct patient care.