Sen. Gayle Harrell

Athletic Trainers; Revising the definition of the term “athletic trainer”; requiring certain licensees to maintain certification in good standing without lapse as a condition of renewal of their athletic trainer licenses; requiring that an athletic trainer work within a specified scope of practice; requiring the direct supervision of an athletic training student to be in accordance with rules adopted by the Board of Athletic Training, etc.

Substance Abuse Services; Requiring, rather than authorizing, an exemption from disqualification from employment for certain substance abuse service provider personnel under certain circumstances; providing that certain persons may be granted such exemption without a waiting period under certain circumstances; removing the authority of the Department of Children and Families to grant exemptions from disqualification under ch. 397, F.S., under certain circumstances; providing criminal penalties for violations relating to recovery residence patient referrals, etc.

Services for Veterans and Their Families; Requiring the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to establish the Florida Veterans’ Care Coordination Program to provide for veterans and their families behavioral health care referral and care coordination services; requiring the department to contract with a certain nonprofit entity to enter into agreements with Florida 211 Network participants to provide such services; providing for the statewide delivery of specified services by program teams, etc.

Public Records/Emergency Room Health Care Practitioners; Defining the term “emergency room health care practitioner”; providing an exemption from public records requirements for the identifying and location information of current or former emergency room health care practitioners and the spouses and children of such practitioners; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Husband-wife Communications Privilege; Providing that the privilege for husband-wife communications does not apply in certain civil or criminal proceedings involving child victims, to the extent that the communications concern certain conduct, etc.

Prohibited Acts by Health Care Practitioners; Prohibiting specified acts by health care practitioners relating to specialty designations; authorizing the Department of Health to enforce compliance with the act; authorizing the department to take specified disciplinary action against health care practitioners in violation of the act, etc.

Animal Cremation; Designating “Sevilla’s Law”; requiring a provider of companion animal cremation services to provide certain individuals and entities with a written description of the services that the provider offers; providing that the written description may not contain false or misleading information; requiring certain entities that make referrals to providers or accept deceased companion animals for cremation through a provider to make the provider’s written description of services available to owners or their representatives, etc.

Involuntary Examinations of Minors; Revising parent and guardian notification requirements that must be met before an involuntary examination of a minor; creating reporting requirements for schools relating to involuntary examinations of minors; requiring that certain plans include procedures to assist certain mental and behavioral health providers in attempts to verbally de-escalate certain crisis situations before initiating an involuntary examination, etc.

Public Records and Meetings/Interstate Medical Licensure Compact; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for certain information held by the Department of Health, the Board of Medicine, or the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, pursuant to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact; providing an exemption from public meeting requirements for certain meetings or portions of certain meetings of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemptions; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Dispensing Medicinal Drugs; Authorizing certain hospitals to dispense supplies of prescribed medicinal drugs in a specified amount to emergency department patients or inpatients upon discharge under certain circumstances; authorizing a greater specified supply of medicinal drugs to be prescribed and dispensed in areas in which a state of emergency has been declared and is in effect; authorizing a prescriber to provide a patient with a prescription for medicinal drugs beyond the initial prescription period under certain circumstances, etc.