RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — All Virginia hospitals with an emergency department will have to have at least one doctor on-site at all times instead of on-call starting in July 2025.
Two identical bills proposing the staffing requirement from Del. Patrick A. Hope (D-Arlington) and state Sen. Stella G. Pekarsky (D-Fairfax) easily passed out the General Assembly and were signed into law by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
“The bill just requires that there be a treating physician on site for all emergency rooms,” Hope said when the Senate bill was before the House of Delegates on Feb. 20.
Under the state’s current law, hospitals with emergency rooms must have a licensed physician on-call, but not necessarily on the premises, at all times.
Del. Wren Williams (R-Patrick) voiced his concerns over the proposal, specifically about its impact on short-staffed hospitals in rural areas like the one he represents. Williams asked Hope if thought about the “unintended consequences” it could have on rural hospitals.
Hope said that’s why the bill was put forward with a delayed effective date, July 2025. He said this would ensure all hospitals can adapt to the pending law.
“I know this bill comes from good intentions,” Williams responded. “I mean, who wouldn’t want a doctor in the ER at all times?”
In his Feb. 20 House floor speech, an emotional Williams said there is only one practicing physician in Patrick County, who also makes rounds in the ER and nursing home.
“In my district, we have one emergency room,” Williams said while choking up. “Over 1,500 square miles. And I’m afraid that one might close, too.”
The total fiscal impact the bill would have on the Virginia Department of Health cannot be determined, per the fiscal impact statement accompanying the legislation.
“VDH does not have readily available data to estimate the potential volume of complaints that may be generated from this legislative change and cannot estimate whether it can be absorbed with existing resources,” the fiscal impact statement reads. “If the provisions of the bill lead to an appreciable increase in complaints against hospitals, VDH may need additional Health Care Compliance Specialists II to handle complaint intake and investigation; this would increase personnel, travel, and lodging costs for the agency.”
The statement adds that costs to amend regulations are estimated to be less than $5,000, which it says can be “absorbed with existing resources.”
