FL S0742

Defines "health care provider" as physicians, registered nurses, employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals or nursing home facilities authorized to perform patient care duties.

Reclassifies assault or battery committed against health care providers to the same penalty level as offenses against law enforcement officers and firefighters: assault elevated from second-degree misdemeanor to first-degree misdemeanor, and battery elevated from first-degree misdemeanor to third-degree felony.

Authorizes law enforcement officers to arrest without a warrant when there is probable cause that a person committed assault on a health care provider as defined in the statute.

Requires background screening for department employees and contract providers to check for arrests or convictions related to assault or battery of health care providers under section 784.07.

Incorporates health care provider assault and battery provisions into existing criminal statutes governing HIV testing of offenders, rape crisis center funding surcharges, criminal punishment code rankings, and domestic violence program funding; effective October 1, 2018.