S 3085: Requires health care facilities to report incidents of a sexual offense to the departments of health and education.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3085 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 23, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HELMING, RHOADS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to reporting inci- dents of possible professional misconduct The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Clara's Law". 2 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 2803-e of the public health law, as 3 added by chapter 866 of the laws of 1980, is amended by adding a new 4 paragraph (c) to read as follows: 5 (c) Hospitals and other facilities approved pursuant to this article 6 shall make a report or cause a report to be made within thirty days of 7 every separate allegation of a sexual offense, as defined in article one 8 hundred thirty of the penal law, by a health care practitioner which 9 involves a patient. 10 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 2803-e of the public health law, as 11 amended by chapter 542 of the laws of 2000, is amended and a new subdi- 12 vision 4 is added to read as follows: 13 2. Reports of possible professional misconduct made pursuant to this 14 section shall be made in writing to the education department with 15 respect to all individuals licensed pursuant to title eight of the 16 education law except that such reports shall be made to the department 17 of health in the case of physicians, physician's assistants and special- 18 ist's assistants. Reports for all allegations of a sexual offense pursu- 19 ant to paragraph (c) of this section shall be made to the department of 20 health in addition to the education department with respect to all indi- 21 viduals licensed pursuant to title eight of the education law. Written 22 reports shall include the following information: 23 (a) name, address, profession and license number of the individual; 24 (b) a description of the action taken by the hospital including the 25 reason for the action and the date thereof, or the nature of the action EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05970-01-5 
 S. 3085 2 1 or conduct which led to the resignation or withdrawal, and the date 2 thereof, stated with sufficient specificity to allow a reasonable person 3 to understand which of the reasons enumerated in subdivision one of this 4 section led to the action of the hospital or the resignation or with- 5 drawal of the individual, and, if the reason was an act or omission of 6 the individual, the particular act or omission; 7 (c) any criminal conviction of which the hospital has knowledge; and 8 (d) such other information as the education department or the depart- 9 ment of health shall require. 10 4. For purposes of this section the term "health care practitioner" 11 shall mean a person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to prac- 12 tice under title eight of the education law. 13 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 14 have become a law.