15104406D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1956
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
on February 3, 2015)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Orrock)
A BILL to require the Department of Health to work with stakeholders to develop guidelines for hospitals to ensure patients and family members with sensory disabilities are able to communicate with health care providers.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. §1. That the Department of Health shall (i) work with stakeholders to develop guidelines for hospitals to ensure that hospitals are complying with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and that patients and family members with sensory disabilities are able to communicate effectively with health care providers and (ii)  report on its progress in developing such guidelines to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2015.