SB 1824 Illinois Senate · 102nd Regular Session

UNIDENTIFIED PATIENT

Summary
Creates the Unidentified Patient Act. Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Elisha Brittman Law. Provides that upon the arrival of an unidentified patient into a hospital's emergency department the hospital shall take specified efforts towards identifying the patient. Requires a hospital to contact the local law enforcement agency and request that a missing person report be completed for an unidentified patient if the specified efforts are not possible or are unsuccessful. Provides that local law enforcement should be requested to enter an unidentified patient into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center database. Requires hospital staff to contact local law enforcement to perform fingerprinting services in an effort to identify an unidentified patient. Provides that hospital staff shall make a referral to the hospital's public information officer to obtain specified identifying materials and submit them to local media outlets if the fingerprinting services are not possible or are unsuccessful. Provides that if a hospital receives a claim from an individual of being an unidentified patient's next of kin, a DNA sample may be collected from the unidentified patient and the individual and verified either on-site or at an associated laboratory, but must be provided on a voluntary basis and shall be used solely to help identify the unidentified patient and any familial relations. Provides that if law enforcement requests an unidentified patient's information to help identify a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person, the hospital and hospital personnel must disclose only the information allowed under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Defines terms.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2021
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 26, 2021 Last action Jan 10, 2023
Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
1
Committee
4
May 7, 2021
Committee
Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments
upper
Apr 16, 2021
Upper · Passed
Rule 2-10 Committee Deadline Established As April 23, 2021
upper
Mar 9, 2021
Committee
Assigned to Healthcare Access and Availability
upper
Feb 26, 2021
Committee
Referred to Assignments
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Patricia Van Pelt
Patricia Van Pelt
DDemocratic
IL
5