Bill > HB5474

This bill amends section 134a of the Mental Health Code to reflect recent amendments to the Public Health Code. The key provisions of the bill are: 1. It prohibits psychiatric facilities or other similar facilities from employing, contracting with, or granting clinical privileges to individuals with certain criminal convictions or substantiated findings of neglect, abuse, or misappropriation of property, unless a certain time period has elapsed. 2. It establishes procedures for these facilities to conduct criminal history checks on applicants, including obtaining consent, submitting fingerprints, and checking relevant registries. 3. It allows facilities to conditionally employ or grant privileges to applicants pending the results of the criminal history check, with certain safeguards in place. 4. It requires employees, contractors, and those granted privileges to report certain criminal arraignments, convictions, or substantiated findings to the facility. 5. It establishes penalties for facilities that knowingly fail to conduct the required criminal history checks. 6. It directs the state to establish an automated fingerprint identification system database to assist facilities in monitoring employees and contractors.