Senate BillFailedHealth and Safety
SB 588: Health facilities: freestanding emergency center study.
What SB 588 does, verified February 3, 2026
This bill aims to improve access to emergency care in rural, disadvantaged, and underserved areas. The Department of Health Care Access and Information is required to conduct a feasibility study on implementing freestanding emergency departments. The study must be conducted in collaboration with stakeholders and result in a report to the legislature by January 1, 2027, with its findings and recommendations. An unspecified amount of funds will be allocated from the general fund to support this initiative. The provisions of this bill will expire on January 1, 2031.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
2In CommitteeCurrent
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. (2026-02-02)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions13 total · showing 5
| Feb. 02, 2026 | Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| Jan. 06, 2026 | January 14 set for second hearing canceled at the request of author. |
| Jan. 06, 2026 | Set for hearing January 14. |
| May. 01, 2025 | April 30 set for first hearing. Testimony taken. Further hearing to be set. |
| Apr. 22, 2025 | Set for hearing April 30. |
Latest bill textAmended version, April 21, 2025 · 719 words
| Amended IN Senate April 21, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate March 26, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 588
| Introduced by Senator Ochoa Bogh |
February 20, 2025 |
An act to add and repeal Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 127620) of Part 2 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 588, as amended, Ochoa Bogh. Health facilities: freestanding emergency center study.
Existing law authorizes a general acute care hospital, as defined, to offer special services, including, but not limited to, emergency medical services. Existing law establishes the Department of Health Care Access and Information to oversee and administer various health programs related to health care infrastructure, such as health policy and planning, health professions development, and facilities design review and construction, among others.
This bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to conduct a feasibility study on the implementation of freestanding emergency departments departments, as defined, in rural, disadvantaged, and underserved areas with limited access to emergency care. The bill would require that the study be conducted in collaboration with certain stakeholders and that the department issue a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2027, with its findings and recommendations. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the department for those purposes. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 127620) is added to Part 2 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:CHAPTER 4. Freestanding Emergency Departments
127620.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:(a) “Emergency services and care” has the same meaning as in Section 1317.1.
(b) “Freestanding emergency department” means a facility that provides emergency services and care and meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Is structurally separate and distinct from a hospital.
(2) Is available to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, and 365 days per year.
(3) Is staffed by appropriately qualified emergency physicians.
(4) Has adequate medical and nursing personnel qualified in emergency services and care as would be required by an emergency medical services permit and any services that would be specified on a services inventory report.
(5) Has policy agreements and procedures in place to provide effective and efficient transfer to a higher level of care, as required.
(6) Receives the same level of reimbursement from all payors for both the physician and technical component fee as a traditional hospital-based emergency department.
(7) Is licensed by the State Department of Public Health.
127620.127621.
(b) The study shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify rural, disadvantaged, and underserved areas with limited access to emergency care.
(2) Review freestanding emergency department models from other states to determine best practices and regulatory frameworks.
(3) Assess the financial sustainability of freestanding emergency departments, including, but not limited to, funding mechanisms and reimbursement models.
(4) Analyze existing laws that restrict freestanding emergency department operations and propose necessary legislative or regulatory changes.
(5) Evaluate how freestanding emergency departments could address disparities in health outcomes and improve access for vulnerable populations.
(c) The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall conduct the study in collaboration with stakeholders from each of the following groups:
(1) Rural health organizations.
(2) Health care districts and other providers.
(3) Medi-Cal administrators.
(4) Community representatives who serve rural, disadvantaged, or underserved communities.
127621.127622.
127622.127623.
(a) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(b) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section chapter is repealed on January 1, 2031.
Text of SB 588 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions