00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 220                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to mental health patient rights and to a hospital's duty to provide                                    
02 choice of the sex of staff providing intimate care to a mental health patient."                                         
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1.  AS 18.20 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                 
05            Sec. 18.20.095.  Patient right to staff selection.  (a)  A patient who is                                  
06       receiving mental health treatment and who is provided intimate care at a hospital that                            
07       employs more than 10 staff members to attend patients has the right to request that the                           
08       care be given by a licensed staff member who is the sex that the patient requests.                                
09            (b)  If a patient who is receiving mental health treatment and who is provided                               
10       intimate care is incapacitated and unable to make a request under (a) of this section,                            
11       intimate care shall be provided by a staff member who is the same sex as the patient                              
12       except as provided in (c)(2) of this section.                                                                     
13            (c)  A supervisor or manager employed by a hospital shall                                                    
14                 (1)  post a notice of the right provided under (a) and (b) of this section                              

01       in a conspicuous place in patient rooms;                                                                          
02                 (2)  if, after reasonable and good faith efforts to comply, the hospital is                             
03       unable to comply with a patient request under (a) of this section or with the                                     
04       requirement under (b) of this section, document in the patient record that intimate care                          
05       was provided by a staff member of the sex opposite to that requested by the patient                               
06       under (a) of this section or opposite to that of the patient under (b) of this section                            
07       because of an inability to comply;                                                                                
08                 (3)  adopt a policy to provide intimate care as required under this                                     
09       section; and                                                                                                      
10                 (4)  distribute the policy adopted under (3) of this subsection to relevant                             
11       staff members before the provision of intimate care to a patient.                                                 
12            (d)  In this section,                                                                                        
13                 (1)  "intimate care" means hygienic care, including bathing and                                         
14       toileting, that involves a patient's perineal area and, for a female patient, the patient's                       
15       breasts; "intimate care" does not include activities done in preparation for medical                              
16       procedures;                                                                                                       
17                 (2)  "licensed staff member" means a person licensed or certified in the                                
18       state under AS 08.65 (midwives), AS 08.64 (physicians and physician assistants),                                  
19       AS 08.45 (naturopaths), or AS 08.68 (nurses and nurse aides);                                                     
20                 (3)  "mental health treatment" means electroconvulsive treatment,                                       
21       treatment with psychotropic medication, or admission to and retention in a health care                            
22       institution for mental health treatment.