Motor vehicles; use of safety belt systems; certain persons exempt. Exempts from the requirements for the use of safety belt systems emergency medical services personnel while in the patient compartment of an emergency medical services vehicle providing necessary care, as defined in the bill, to a patient. The bill provides that, for seats that are subject to such requirements for the use of safety belt systems, such personnel shall use safety belt systems while the vehicle is in motion and such personnel is not providing necessary care to a patient. The bill also changes the existing exemption for law-enforcement agency personnel driving motor vehicles to enforce laws governing motor vehicle parking to an exemption for law-enforcement officers driving motor vehicles to enforce laws governing motor vehicle parking. This bill incorporates HB 233.
State Health Commissioner; training materials for restaurant personnel; celiac disease. Directs the State Health Commissioner to add celiac disease awareness and safety to the topics included in written materials provided for the training of restaurant personnel.
Public elementary and secondary schools; student diabetes medical care and management. Establishes several provisions relating to student diabetes medical care and management in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including requiring divisionwide plans for the care of students who are diagnosed with diabetes in each school division, effective beginning with the 2028–2029 school year. This bill is identical to HB 1301.
Local and regional suicide fatality review teams; penalty. Permits localities or combinations of localities to establish a local or regional suicide fatality review team. The bill provides exemptions from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for information and records obtained or created regarding a review of a fatality by such team.
Board of Medicine; office-based buprenorphine treatment; counseling. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend its regulations regarding office-based buprenorphine treatment to require providers to offer counseling or referral to counseling to each patient as clinically necessary and mutually agreed-upon. The bill specifies that a patient's refusal of counseling does not preclude the patient from receiving office-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care and is identical to SB 641.
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; individuals receiving services; right to send and receive mail. Allows state facilities operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to process sealed letter mail for electronic delivery. This bill is identical to SB 580.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; expedited review process for Medicaid service authorization requests; report. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to (i) implement expedited review of Medicaid service authorization requests consistent with applicable federal law and (ii) annually transmit the prior authorization report required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health.
Hospitals; reports of threats or acts of violence against health care providers; expansion of reporting requirements. Expands the reporting requirements for incidents of workplace violence in hospitals with an emergency department by requiring additional descriptors of incidents, requiring hospitals to report collected data to additional parties, and directing the Department of Health to publish a report containing an annual summary of such data. The bill directs the Board of Health to promulgate regulations implementing the provisions of the bill by January 1, 2027, and directs the Department of Health to publish its first report by December 31, 2027.
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities; licensure; automated external defibrillators. Requires nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have and maintain an automated external defibrillator and have staff trained to use such automated external defibrillator.
Department of Fire Programs; mental health awareness training. Provides that the Department of Fire Programs shall develop a standardized, two-hour virtual asynchronous training program on mental health awareness tailored to firefighters that includes training on each subject matter set forth in current law. The bill provides the option for each fire department to use such standardized training program as guidance in developing its own mental health awareness training for its personnel. This bill is identical to HB 325.
