Areawide Sexual Assault Treatment Plans

Section 545 Section 545.50  Areawide Sexual Assault Treatment Plans a) Hospitals and approved pediatric health care facilities in the area to be served may develop and participate in areawide plans that shall describe the medical forensic services to sexual assault survivors that each participating hospital and approved pediatric health care facility has agreed to make available.  Each hospital and approved pediatric health care facility participating in such a plan shall provide services as it is designated to provide in the plan agreed upon by the participants.  An areawide plan may include treatment hospitals, treatment hospitals with approved pediatric transfer, transfer hospitals, approved pediatric health care facilities, or out-of-state hospitals as provided in Section 5.4 of the Act. (Section 3 of the Act) b) All areawide plans shall be submitted to the Department for approval prior to becoming effective. (Section 3 of the Act) c) The Department will approve a proposed plan if it finds that the minimum requirements set forth in Section 5 of the Act and Section 545.60 of this Part are met and implementation of the plan would provide for appropriate medical forensic services, pursuant to this Part, for the people of the area to be served. (Section 3 of the Act) d)         Each plan shall include a description of the role of each hospital or pediatric health care facility participating in the plan, as well as the individual treatment or transfer plans for each hospital or pediatric health care facility, in accordance with Section 545.60, 545.62, 545.63, 545.64 or 545.65. e)         Areawide plans shall conform to the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. f)         Areawide plans shall incorporate all of the requirements set forth in Section 545.55 for the treatment and transfer of pediatric sexual assault survivors. g) Until January 1, 2022, the areawide treatment plan may include a written agreement, with a treatment hospital with approved pediatric transfer that is geographically closer than other hospitals providing medical forensic services to sexual assault survivors 13 years of age or older, stating that the treatment hospital with approved pediatric transfer will provide medical services to sexual assault survivors 13 years of age or older who are transferred from the transfer hospital. If the areawide treatment plan includes a written agreement with a treatment hospital with approved pediatric transfer, it must also include a written agreement with a treatment hospital stating that the treatment hospital will provide medical forensic services to sexual assault survivors under 13 years of age who are transferred from the transfer hospital .  (Section 2(a) of the Act) h)         Each plan shall indicate which facility participating in the areawide treatment plan is responsible, upon the completion of medical forensic services, for transporting the sexual assault survivor back to the original location where the individual initially presented seeking medical forensic services, unless transportation is arranged by the survivor or by the survivor’s non-offending parent or legal guardian.