Bill > SB669

This bill establishes a 10-year pilot project to address perinatal healthcare access in rural California by creating a new category of hospital services called "standby perinatal services" in critical access hospitals. The project will initially focus on two nonprofit hospitals in Humboldt and Plumas Counties, with the potential to include up to three additional hospitals. Standby perinatal services are defined as the provision of obstetric and neonatal medical care for patients transferred from alternative birth centers or who arrive at a hospital's emergency department with urgent obstetric issues. Participating hospitals must meet strict requirements, including having equipment for emergency care, maintaining specific medical capabilities, developing comprehensive policies and procedures, ensuring qualified medical staff, and providing ongoing staff training. The State Department of Public Health will oversee the pilot project, develop a data collection template, evaluate the program's safety and outcomes, and submit a report to the Legislature. The bill aims to address the challenge of rural hospital perinatal unit closures, which have left large areas of rural California without nearby birthing services, potentially improving maternal and infant health outcomes by providing emergency obstetric care in underserved regions.

Budget and Finance, Health and Social Services

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB669