HF4210 Summary

• Hospitals must maintain logs of patients who leave emergency departments before receiving care, documenting reasons and wait times, with data available to the health commissioner and union representatives within 30 days.

• All hospital health care workers must receive de-escalation training including four hours of initial training covering violence recognition, de-escalation techniques, trauma-informed care, implicit bias, and communication skills, with two-hour annual updates required by June 30, 2025.

• Hospitals must establish secure online portals for reporting violent incidents and threats of violence, retaining data for seven years and providing de-identified copies to union representatives within 30 days of request.

• All hospitals must establish violence interruption intervention teams by July 1, 2025, with at least four members including three licensed medical professionals with psychiatric expertise and one licensed mental health professional, available on-site at all times to respond to crises.

• Commissioner of health must compile annual reports on hospital violence incidents and compliance beginning January 15, 2026, and inspect hospitals for compliance with enforcement authority to issue correction orders and notices of noncompliance.