Health facilities: administrative penalties.

Healthcare

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Menjivar
Last action: 2025-10-13
Official status: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 773, Statutes of 2025.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The exact penalties for violations are not detailed in the provided summary.

Health Facilities: Penalties for Nurse-to-Patient Ratio Violations

This law changes how hospitals are penalized if they do not follow nurse-to-patient ratio rules set by the State Department of Public Health.

What This Bill Does

Defines what an 'on-call list' means when talking about nurse staffing in hospitals.
Specifies that contacting nurses who are not on call or assigned to a float pool does not count as using up all available staff.
Requires the department to treat violations occurring on separate days as distinct from each other.

Who It Names or Affects

Hospitals and health facilities that have nurse-to-patient ratio rules set by the State Department of Public Health.

Terms To Know

on-call list: A list of nurses who are available to work extra shifts if needed.
float pool: A group of nurses who can be assigned to different units or shifts when there is a shortage.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify the exact penalties for violations, only how they should be counted and assessed.
It's unclear if this law will change how hospitals manage their staffing in practical terms beyond counting violations differently.

Bill History

2025-10-13 California Legislative Information
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 773, Statutes of 2025.
2025-10-13 California Legislative Information
Approved by the Governor.
2025-09-23 California Legislative Information
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
2025-09-12 California Legislative Information
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 21. Noes 10. Page 2973.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
2025-09-12 California Legislative Information
In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2025-09-11 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 48. Noes 19. Page 3318.) Ordered to the Senate.
2025-09-03 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-09-02 California Legislative Information
Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
2025-08-29 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 10. Noes 4.) (August 29).
2025-08-20 California Legislative Information
August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-07-16 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 2.) (July 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-07-03 California Legislative Information
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.
2025-07-01 California Legislative Information
July 8 hearing postponed by committee.
2025-06-16 California Legislative Information
Referred to Com. on HEALTH.
2025-06-05 California Legislative Information
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
2025-06-04 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 24. Noes 10. Page 1510.) Ordered to the Assembly.
2025-05-23 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-05-23 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1205.) (May 23).
2025-05-16 California Legislative Information
Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-12 California Legislative Information
May 12 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-02 California Legislative Information
Set for hearing May 12.
2025-04-28 California Legislative Information
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-24 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 2. Page 868.) (April 23).
2025-04-08 California Legislative Information
Set for hearing April 23.
2025-03-27 California Legislative Information
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.
2025-03-05 California Legislative Information
Referred to Com. on HEALTH.
2025-02-21 California Legislative Information
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
2025-02-20 California Legislative Information
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Official Summary Text

SB 596, Menjivar.
Health facilities: administrative penalties.
Existing law provides for the licensure of various health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations that establish minimum, specific, and numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios by licensed nurse classification and by hospital unit for all general acute
care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals. Existing law requires the department to assess an administrative penalty of $15,000 for the first violation and $30,000 for the second and each subsequent violation if the department determines that a specified health facility has violated nurse-to-patient ratios, as specified. Under existing law, an acute general hospital is not subject to this administrative penalty if the hospital demonstrates it has met specified requirements, including that any fluctuation in required staffing levels was unpredictable and uncontrollable, prompt efforts were made to maintain required staffing levels, and the hospital immediately used and subsequently exhausted the hospital’s on-call list of nurses and the charge nurse. Existing law specifies that multiple violations found on the same inspection survey constitute a single violation for purposes of determining whether the violation was a first, 2nd, or subsequent violation.
This bill would define “on-call list” for the above purpose and would specify that a hospital contacting, or attempting to contact, licensed nurses who are not scheduled to be on call and who are not assigned to a float pool for the unit and shift where an alleged violation occurred is not considered as exhausting an on-call list. The bill would require the department to treat violations on separate days as separate violations.

Current Bill Text

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