HB3213 Summary

• Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act to establish licensing requirements for Freestanding Emergency Centers (FECs) issued by the Department of Public Health.

• FECs must be owned by hospitals, located in municipalities with 50,000 or fewer residents, within 50 miles of their parent hospital, and staffed with at least one board-certified emergency physician 24 hours per day.

• FECs must provide comprehensive emergency treatment services on an outpatient basis, maintain ambulance services with paramedics available 24/7, and limit participation in EMS systems to receiving basic life support runs per approved protocols.

• Allows FEC licensing for facilities in counties without general acute care hospitals if their permit application was deemed complete by January 1, 2014, and for facilities that filed letters of intent to establish an FEC by that date.

• Requires FECs to report patient transfers within 48 hours, submit quarterly morbidity and mortality data, and pass Department site inspections; allows the Department to suspend or revoke FEC licenses for non-compliance.