SB 1570A – Limits when a hospital may share certain info. Tells a hospital to assign which areas of the hospital are not open to the public. This is new enforceable legal obligations that didn’t previously exist in Oregon law.
Oregon has a shortage of healthcare facilities, and further restrictions will make them even more short on staff as fund are spent on enforcement and not care.
New Hospital Responsibilities
- Designate restricted areas — Hospitals must formally identify which areas are not open to the public, including any access-controlled areas and all patient rooms
- Adopt written policies for responding when law enforcement arrives on-site
- Designate a supervisory administrator specifically responsible for responding to law enforcement arrivals
- Protect immigration-related information — citizenship/immigration status and country of birth must be treated with the same protections as standard health information (PHI)Restrict law enforcement disclosures — hospitals cannot share individually identifiable health information or immigration status for law enforcement purposes unless required by law, court order, or needed for continuity of care
- New Consequences
- Retaliating against employees who distribute state-approved immigration rights materials becomes an unlawful employment practice
- Affected employees gain the right to file complaints with the Bureau of Labor and Industries