Bill > HB5142

This bill amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act to adjust the requirements for obtaining an annual Freestanding Emergency Center (FEC) license, which is a facility providing emergency medical services but is not part of a hospital. Key changes include extending the deadline for FEC permit applications to be deemed complete by the Department of Public Health to January 1, 2014, and in some cases January 1, 2015, from the previous March 1, 2009, deadline. The bill also modifies location requirements, allowing FECs to be in municipalities with populations of 50,000 or fewer (down from 75,000) and requiring them to be within 50 miles (increased from 20 miles) of the hospital that owns or controls them and the affiliated Resource Hospital, which is a hospital that provides specialized medical support within the EMS System. These changes aim to facilitate the establishment and licensing of FECs under updated criteria.