Rights of patients in certain medical facilities

§ 2803-c. Rights of patients in certain medical facilities. 1. The
principles enunciated in subdivision three hereof are declared to be the
public policy of the state and a copy of such statement of rights and
responsibilities shall be posted conspicuously in a public place in each
facility covered hereunder.

2. The commissioner shall require that every nursing home and facility
providing health related service, as defined in subdivision two and
paragraph (b) of subdivision four of section twenty-eight hundred one of
this article, shall adopt and make public a statement of the rights and
responsibilities of the patients who are receiving care in such
facilities, and shall treat such patients in accordance with the
provisions of such statement.

3. Said statement of rights and responsibilities shall include, but
not be limited to the following:

a. Every patient's civil and religious liberties, including the right
to independent personal decisions and knowledge of available choices,
shall not be infringed and the facility shall encourage and assist in
the fullest possible exercise of these rights.

b. Every patient shall have the right to have private communications
and consultations with his or her physician, attorney, and any other
person.

c. Every patient shall have the right to present grievances on behalf
of himself or herself or others, to the facility's staff or
administrator, to governmental officials, or to any other person without
fear of reprisal, and to join with other patients or individuals within
or outside of the facility to work for improvements in patient care.

d. Every patient shall have the right to manage his or her own
financial affairs, or to have at least a quarterly accounting of any
personal financial transactions undertaken in his or her behalf by the
facility during any period of time the patient has delegated such
responsibilities to the facility.

e. Every patient shall have the right to receive adequate and
appropriate medical care, to be fully informed of his or her medical
condition and proposed treatment unless medically contraindicated, and
to refuse medication and treatment after being fully informed of and
understanding the consequences of such actions.

f. Every patient shall have the right to have privacy in treatment and
in caring for personal needs, confidentiality in the treatment of
personal and medical records, and security in storing personal
possessions.

g. Every patient shall have the right to receive courteous, fair, and
respectful care and treatment and a written statement of the services
provided by the facility, including those required to be offered on an
as-needed basis.

h. Every patient shall be free from mental and physical abuse and from
physical and chemical restraints, except those restraints authorized in
writing by a physician for a specified and limited period of time or as
are necessitated by an emergency in which case the restraint may only be
applied by a qualified licensed nurse who shall set forth in writing the
circumstances requiring the use of restraint and in the case of use of a
chemical restraint a physician shall be consulted within twenty-four
hours.

i. A statement of the facility's regulations and an explanation of the
patient's responsibility to obey all reasonable regulations of the
facility and to respect the personal rights and private property of the
other patients.

j. A statement that should the patient be adjudicated incompetent and
not be restored to legal capacity, or if a conservator should be
appointed for the patient, the above rights and responsibilities shall
be exercised by the appointed committee or conservator in a
representative capacity.

k. Every patient shall have the right to receive upon request kosher
food or food products prepared in accordance with sections two hundred
one-a, two hundred one-b and two hundred one-c of the agriculture and
markets law.

k-1. Every patient shall have the right to receive upon request halal
food or food products prepared in accordance with sections two hundred
one-e, two hundred one-f and two hundred one-g of the agriculture and
markets law.

l. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner, no
facility or individual and no general hospital providing medical care to
persons having been admitted from such facilities or from adult care
facilities covered by the provisions of section four hundred sixty-one-b
of the social services law, or to applicants for readmission to such
facilities or to adult care facilities covered by the provisions of
section four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law, shall
restrict or prohibit the access to the facility or general hospital nor
interfere with the performance of the official duties, including
confidential visits with residents, of duly designated persons
participating in the long term care ombudsman program as provided for in
section two hundred eighteen of the elder law.

m. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner in
consultation with the director of the office for the aging, no facility
shall restrict or prohibit access by records access ombudsmen specially
designated under section five hundred forty-four of the executive law to
the medical or personal records of any patient or resident if such
patient or resident, or, where appropriate, committee for an
incompetent, has given express written consent to such disclosure;
provided, however, that (i) in the case of medical records, disclosure
may be exclusive of the personal notes of the physician as defined in
such regulations and (ii) access may be limited to such times as may be
specified in such regulations. Such records shall be made available by a
member or members of the facility's staff who shall be designated by the
facility to provide access to and, where necessary, interpretation of
such records to such records access ombudsman, who shall have the right
to photocopy such records. The facility may charge a reasonable fee for
photocopying pursuant to such regulations. Disclosure to a records
access ombudsman of records of any patient or resident pursuant to the
written consent of such patient or resident shall not give rise to any
claim against the facility, its staff, or the patient's or resident's
physician based solely on the fact of such disclosure pursuant to such
written consent. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit
or abridge any right of access to records, including financial records,
otherwise available to ombudsmen, patients or residents, or any other
person.

n. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner in
consultation with the director of the office for the aging, no facility
or individual shall retaliate or take reprisals against any resident,
employee, or other person for having filed a complaint with, or having
provided information to, any long term care patient ombudsman
functioning in accordance with section five hundred forty-four or five
hundred forty-five of the executive law, nor shall any facility or
individual interfere with the official duties of any such ombudsman.
Such regulations shall provide for appropriate sanctions with respect to
such retaliation, reprisals, or interference.

(o) Every patient shall have the right to authorize those family
members and other adults who will be given priority to visit consistent
with the patient's or resident's ability to receive visitors.

p. A statement informing the patient of his or her right to make
organ, tissue or whole body donations, and the means by which the
patient may make such a donation. The commissioner shall promulgate any
rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this
paragraph.

q. A statement indicating the policy of the facility regarding the
granting of physician privileges to residents.

r. Every patient shall have the right to remain in care unless the
patient is appropriately discharged or transferred in accordance with
section two thousand eight hundred three-z of this article and a
residential health care facility shall not attempt to compel or
retaliate against an individual that chooses to remain in care.

4. Each facility shall give a copy of the statement to each patient at
or prior to the time of admission to the facility, or to the appointed
personal representative at the time of appointment and to each member of
the facility's staff.

5. Each facility shall prepare a written plan and provide appropriate
staff training to implement each patient's right included in the
statement.

6. The department shall translate and make available to all facilities
the statement in the ten most common non-English languages spoken by
individuals with limited-English proficiency in New York state as based
on the most recent United States census. Each facility shall post and
make available copies of said statement for residents under subdivisions
one, two, and four of this section.