- Access to Care
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In accordance with 2SSB 5602 (PDF) (Laws of 2019) and WAC 246-320-141(6), the Department of Health (department) posts hospitals’ policies related to access to care. These policies are in the table below. By posting these policies, the department makes no statement as to the content of these policies.
2SSB 5602 (PDF) (Laws of 2019) and WAC 246-320-141(6) require hospitals to submit policies about admission, nondiscrimination, and reproductive health. WAC 246-320-141(6) also requires hospitals to submit policies about end-of-life care. These requirements do not apply to private psychiatric and alcoholism hospitals (WAC 246-322) and private alcohol and chemical dependency hospitals (WAC 246-324).
Submit hospital access to care policies to HospitalPolicies@doh.wa.gov.
2SSB 5602 (PDF) (Laws of 2019) requires hospitals to complete and submit to the department a reproductive health services form by September 1, 2019. The purpose of this form is to provide the public with specific information about which reproductive health services are and are not generally available at each hospital. Instructions for submitting the form:
Download the fillable Reproductive Health Services form (PDF) Complete the form:- Option 1: download and print PDF form, complete relevant sections by hand, scan completed form into a new PDF.
- Option 2: download and open PDF, complete relevant fillable sections, save as new PDF.
Submit completed PDF form to HospitalPolicies@doh.wa.gov.
- Charity Care
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RCW 70.170.060 and WAC 246-453-070 require hospitals to submit charity care policies, procedures and sliding fee schedules to the department for review and approval. The following table contains the approved charity care policies currently on file.
Submit charity care policies to CharityCare@doh.wa.gov.
- Nurse Staffing
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ESHB 1714 passed in 2017 (PDF) to amend RCW 70.41.420, requiring hospitals to submit their nurse staffing plans to the department beginning January 1, 2019, and on an annual basis thereafter. Hospitals must also submit any nurse staffing plans that are updated throughout the year. The department interprets “annual basis” as twelve months from the last submitted plan. The department posts the nurse staffing plans it has received in the table below. By posting these nurse staffing plans, the department makes no statement as to the content of these plans.
The change to RCW 70.41.420 requiring acute care hospitals to submit their nurse staffing plans does not include private psychiatric and alcoholism hospitals (WAC 246-322), and private alcohol and chemical dependency hospitals (WAC 246-324).
See the nurse staffing webpage for information on how to submit nurse staffing plans.
- Nurse staffing report
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House Bill 1714 directed the department to submit a Nurse Staffing Report (PDF) to the legislature by December 31, 2020, that addresses the number of nurse staffing complaints received, the status of those complaints, the number of investigations conducted, the costs associated with the complaint investigations, projections for the effect on hospital fees over the next four years, and recommendations for any needed statutory changes. The recommendations for statutory changes were developed jointly by the department, the hospital and nursing associations, and the two labor unions.