Utah lawmakers want to raise the standards for freestanding emergency rooms around Utah

A bill that would set robust requirements for freestanding emergency rooms across the Wasatch Front advanced through the Utah Legislature Tuesday.

A bill that would set robust requirements for freestanding emergency rooms across the Wasatch Front advanced through the Utah Legislature Tuesday. (Adobe.com)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would set robust requirements for freestanding emergency rooms across the Wasatch Front advanced through the House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday.

Sponsored by Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, HB152 sets requirements for the amount of staff and lists certain equipment that freestanding emergency rooms across the state need to have.

"These are the standards that we came up with in the bill, and we think and hope that it's going to increase the public safety, increase awareness that these are great places to go," Hall said. "If you have an emergency, you can feel confident in where you're going, that's what we're working towards."

These freestanding, or satellite, emergency departments are health care facilities that provide emergency or critical care away from a main hospital campus that are operated under the license of the parent hospital.

Hall said that as more of these facilities are created in Utah, many of them do not have the necessary staff or equipment to provide proper emergency care.

"I feel like Utah has a chance to decide what we want our emergency care to be, and we have a duty to the public and consumer trust," Hall said.

What requirements does the bill set?

This bill sets specific requirements for freestanding emergency rooms in first- and second-class counties around Utah.

It requires these facilities to have at least two registered nurses, a respiratory therapist and a lab technician. Specific equipment to provide services such as CT scans, X-rays and sonograms are also required.

The number of satellite emergency rooms in Utah is growing, and the bill sets limitations on how many one hospital can have.

If the bill passes, any facilities that do not meet these requirements will not be able to identify themselves as providing emergency or critical care services.

This bill will also make it so emergency departments are more transparent and identifiable, including signage that says patients will have to pay emergency room prices.

This is meant to help those who don't necessarily need an emergency room, especially because of the cost of emergency care. If patients are experiencing something that isn't truly an emergency then they can go to an Instacare for a lower cost, Hall said.

"Medical care is so expensive a person without insurance can go bankrupt from a single visit, and when that's needed, that's what's needed, but the person needs to know what they're choosing," said Rep. Raymond Ward, R-Bountiful.

Why are these requirements necessary?

Hall started working on this bill last year after she was approached by a physician at one of these freestanding emergency departments. This constituent shared with her some of the issues that are seen at these departments, including them being understaffed and not having all the necessary equipment for emergency care providers to properly do their jobs.

"His position was, this is not allowing us to do our job to the best of our abilities as emergency physicians," Hall said.

During the committee hearing, Rae Shelley Larsen, a nurse at one of these facilities, shared her personal experience and why she thinks these changes are needed.

"I am concerned about safety with our staffing and giving our patients the best care, it is a safety issue," Larsen said.

She shared that without the necessary staff, she ends up doing the jobs of a lab tech and a respiratory therapist, both of which she is not fully trained or qualified to do, on top of being a nurse.

"We love the work that we do in our community, and we understand and our community loves us. They come to us and they trust us, and I'm afraid that trust that they've been giving us that we are going to not be able to uphold that trust in our community that we have established," Larsen said.

This bill was originally introduced in 2024

Hall first started working on this bill over a year ago. It was introduced in last year's legislative session and after passing through the House, it was stopped in the Senate. She said that she worked hard over the interim to make the necessary changes to please all the stakeholders and get this bill through.

"It's tough when you have something that you're passionate about and that you know is for the public good not pass," Hall said. "But at the same time, that just makes me want to try even harder to make something happen and come up with the right policy."

Hall shared that she worked hard over the year, meeting with physicians, nurses and hospital administrators, as well as visiting facilities from all four hospital systems, in order to prepare the bill for this legislative session.

She pointed out that she had to make a few compromises and concessions to get all the stakeholders on board with the bill. One of these necessary changes was that if a facility cannot get a respiratory therapist that position could be filled by someone else with respiratory training such as an emergency medical technician.

"There are lots of things that she's required in this field that just makes sense, and the ones that didn't we were able to find compromise, and I think we've gotten everything that we need," said Francis Gibson with the Utah Hospital Association.

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Caitlin Keith, Deseret NewsCaitlin Keith
Caitlin is a trending intern for Deseret News. She covers travel, entertainment and other trending topics.

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