Health Care Patient Protection
CS/HB 355, titled the Health Care Patient Protection bill, requires hospitals with emergency departments to adopt and implement pediatric emergency care policies based on evidence-based best practices. Those policies must address triage, vital signs, weighing children in kilograms, medication dosing, and the use of pediatric equipment. The bill also requires annual staff training, including simulation-based training and emergency drills, and it directs each emergency department to designate a pediatric emergency care coordinator responsible for ensuring the policies are carried out.
The bill further requires emergency departments to complete the National Pediatric Readiness Assessment on the schedule set by the National Pediatric Readiness Project. In years when that assessment is not conducted, hospitals may instead complete the Project’s Open Assessment. The Agency for Health Care Administration must also adopt rules establishing minimum standards for pediatric patient care in emergency departments, including immediate access to pediatric-specific equipment and supplies, and must collect and publish assessment scores for hospital emergency departments beginning in 2026.
In addition, the bill amends Florida’s rules for comprehensive emergency management plans to explicitly include the needs of pediatric and neonatal patients. It also requires the local review process for those plans to involve relevant state agencies and emergency management entities, while preserving existing requirements for evacuation, sheltering, staffing, supplies, and post-disaster operations. The act takes effect July 1, 2026.
The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. It passed the House subcommittee, full House committee, House floor, and Senate floor unanimously, indicating broad bipartisan support for improving pediatric emergency preparedness and transparency in hospital readiness.
There is little evidence of major opposition in the available record. The main policy emphasis is on raising pediatric care standards, improving training and coordination, and making readiness scores public, which may create operational expectations for hospitals but does not appear to have generated significant disagreement during the legislative process.
The bill amends sections 395.1012, 395.1055, and 408.05, Florida Statutes, to impose new pediatric emergency care requirements on hospitals with emergency departments and to expand state oversight of pediatric readiness. It creates new duties for hospitals, including policy development, annual training, drills, coordinator designation, and readiness assessments, while directing the Agency for Health Care Administration to adopt implementing rules and publish assessment results. It also updates emergency management planning requirements to account for pediatric and neonatal patients, affecting hospital emergency plans and local plan review processes.
The bill was received very positively throughout the legislative process. It passed the House Health Care Facilities & Systems Subcommittee 13-0, the House Health & Human Services Committee 14-0, the House floor 106-0, and the Senate floor 36-0. The unanimous votes suggest broad agreement that pediatric emergency preparedness and transparency are important patient-safety measures.
No major controversy is reflected in the available transcripts or voting record. The likely areas of practical concern are implementation-related: hospitals may need to update policies, train staff, designate coordinators, maintain pediatric equipment, and submit readiness assessments, while the agency must develop rules and publish scores. However, the record does not show organized opposition or substantive disagreement over the bill’s policy goals.