(a) “Mobile field hospital” means a modular, transportable facility used intermittently, deployed at the discretion of the Governor, or the Governor's designee, (1) for the provision of medical services at a mass gathering; (2) for the purpose of training or in the event of a public health or other emergency for isolation care purposes or triage and treatment during a mass-casualty event; or (3) for providing surge capacity for a hospital during a mass-casualty event or infrastructure failure.

(b) There is established a board of directors to advise the Department of Public Health on the operations of the mobile field hospital. The board shall consist of the following members: The Commissioners of Public Health, Emergency Services and Public Protection and Social Services, or their designees, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee, the Adjutant General, or the Adjutant General's designee, one representative of a hospital in this state with more than five hundred licensed beds and one representative of a hospital in this state with five hundred or fewer licensed beds, both appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health. The Commissioner of Public Health shall be the chairperson of the board. The board shall adopt bylaws and shall meet at such times as specified in such bylaws and at such other times as the Commissioner of Public Health deems necessary.

(c) The board shall advise the department on matters, including, but not limited to: Operating policies and procedures; facility deployment and operation; appropriate utilization of the facility; clinical programs and delivery of patient health care services; hospital staffing patterns and staff-to-patient ratios; human resources policies; standards and accreditation guidelines; credentialing of clinical and support staff; patient admission, transfer and discharge policies and procedures; quality assurance and performance improvement; patient rates and billing and reimbursement mechanisms; staff education and training requirements and alternative facility uses.

(P.A. 05-280, S. 57; P.A. 07-252, S. 65; P.A. 10-117, S. 33; P.A. 11-51, S. 158.)

History: P.A. 05-280 effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-252 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “mobile field hospital” for “critical access hospital”, effective July 12, 2007; P.A. 10-117 added new Subsec. (a) defining “mobile field hospital” and redesignated existing Subsecs. (a) and (b) as Subsecs. (b) and (c); P.A. 11-51 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing reference to Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and Commissioner of Public Safety with reference to Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, effective July 1, 2011.