Chapter 512
Oregon Laws 2011
AN ACT
SB 579
Relating to
patient advocates; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this
section:
(a) “Health care instruction” means a
document executed by a patient to indicate the patient’s instructions regarding
health care decisions, including an advance directive or power of attorney for
health care executed under ORS 127.505 to 127.660.
(b) “Health care provider” means a
person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized by the law of this state to
administer health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a
profession.
(c) “Hospital” has the meaning given
that term in ORS 442.015.
(d) “Mental health treatment” means
convulsive treatment, treatment of mental illness with psychoactive medication,
psychosurgery, admission to and retention in a health care facility for care or
treatment of mental illness, and related outpatient services.
(2)(a)(A) A hospital may appoint a
health care provider who has received training in health care ethics, including
identification and management of conflicts of interest and acting in the best
interest of the patient, to give informed consent to medically necessary health
care services on behalf of a patient admitted to the hospital in accordance
with subsection (3) of this section.
(B) If a person appointed under
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph is the patient’s attending physician, the
hospital must also appoint another health care provider who meets the
requirements of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to participate in making
decisions about giving informed consent to health care services on behalf of
the patient.
(b) A hospital may appoint a
multidisciplinary committee with ethics as a core component of the duties of
the committee, or a hospital ethics committee, to participate in making
decisions about giving informed consent to medically necessary health care
services on behalf of a patient admitted to the hospital in accordance with
subsection (3) of this section.
(3) A person appointed by a hospital
under subsection (2) of this section may give informed consent to medically
necessary health care services on behalf of and in the best interest of a
patient admitted to the hospital if:
(a) In the medical opinion of the
attending physician, the patient lacks the ability to make and communicate
health care decisions to health care providers;
(b) The hospital has performed a
reasonable search, in accordance with the hospital’s policy for locating relatives
and friends of a patient, for a health care representative appointed under ORS
127.505 to 127.660 or an adult relative or adult friend of the patient who is
capable of making health care decisions for the patient, including contacting
social service agencies of the Oregon Health Authority or the Department of
Human Services if the hospital has reason to believe that the patient has a
case manager with the authority or the department, and has been unable to
locate any person who is capable of making health care decisions for the
patient; and
(c) The hospital has performed a
reasonable search for and is unable to locate any health care instruction
executed by the patient.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of
this section, if a patient’s wishes regarding health care services were made
known during a period when the patient was capable of making and communicating
health care decisions, the hospital and the person appointed under subsection
(2) of this section shall comply with those wishes.
(5) A person appointed under
subsection (2) of this section may not consent on a patient’s behalf to:
(a) Mental health treatment;
(b) Sterilization;
(c) Abortion;
(d) Except as provided in ORS 127.635
(3), the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures as defined in
ORS 127.505; or
(e) Except as provided in ORS 127.580
(2), the withholding or withdrawal of artificially administered nutrition and
hydration, as defined in ORS 127.505, other than hyperalimentation, necessary
to sustain life.
(6) If the person appointed under
subsection (2) of this section knows the patient’s religious preference, the
person shall make reasonable efforts to confer with a member of the clergy of
the patient’s religious tradition before giving informed consent to health care
services on behalf of the patient.
(7) A person appointed under
subsection (2) of this section is not a health care representative as defined
in ORS 127.505.
SECTION 2. This 2011 Act being
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and
safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2011 Act takes effect on
its passage.
Approved by
the Governor June 23, 2011
Filed in the
office of Secretary of State June 23, 2011
Effective date
June 23, 2011
__________