HB 2041 Summary

• Extends disease testing provisions in Arizona law to cover assaults on private hospital employees and volunteers, allowing courts to order blood tests on individuals who bite, scratch, spit, or transfer bodily fluids during altercations.

• Defines "hospital employee" to include private hospital employees, volunteers, and authorized personnel at private hospitals; defines "private hospital" as any hospital not operated by the state or political subdivisions.

• Adds new paragraphs to existing statute defining hospital employees and private hospitals while renumbering subsequent definitions of private prison security officers and public safety employees.

• Directs private hospitals to keep and report data on assaults against their employees and volunteers to public policy researchers to support efforts in reducing violence against healthcare workers.

• Applies to testing procedures for human immunodeficiency virus, common blood-borne diseases, and other specified diseases when exposure during an assault is suspected.