Meeting Tomorrow 3-30-23 10am in NYC
90 Church Street, Conference Rooms 4 A/B, NYC
For security purposes: Attendees must send email with their name to Leonard, Colleen M (HEALTH) Colleen.Leonard@health.ny.gov>
If you show up, please do so respectfully as we don’t want these hearings to stop being public and go all remote
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from Michael Kane
3-29-23
I didn’t believe it when I first read the email from Leland Lehrman. I questioned if NY State was trying to implement a new quarantine regulation like the one Bobbie Anne Cox beat in court and is now fighting on appeal.
But it’s true.
NY State Health Department wants to have the right to quarantine anyone they deem a public health threat IN A GENERAL HOSPITAL. The hospital setting seems to be the only difference between this new proposed regulation and the one attorney Bobbie Anne Cox beat down.
Here is Leland’s email to me explaining the details:
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Item 1. The quarantine camp issue remains on the Emergency Adoption Schedule at the Public Health and Health Planning Commission meeting for this Thursday, March 30th, Albany and NYC. Details here and below.
This proposed regulation could be used to enable the state to send people to general hospitals on the whim of the commissioner. The language is extremely broad and therefore, dangerous. Under the current circumstances, given what they just did, I would say the language is overly broad and must be carefully reconstructed. What do you think?
“(g) Whenever the commissioner determines that there exists an outbreak of a highly contagious communicable disease pursuant to Part 2 of this Title or other public health emergency, the commissioner may direct general hospitals, as defined in Article 28 of the public health law, and consistent with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), to accept patients pursuant to such procedures and conditions as the commissioner may determine appropriate.”
especially in tandem with the other language:
“the person in charge of the business, organization, institution or the home owner, as well as any individuals or entities required to report pursuant to sections 2.10 and 2.12 of this Part, shall cooperate with the State Department of Health and local health authorities in the investigation of such disease, condition, outbreak, or unusual disease.”
When I looked at this language, I realized that it was similar to the language that was in the actual quarantine regulation, the major difference being that the commissioner could quarantine people wherever she wanted to, not just in hospitals.
I looked at the quarantine camp regulation that Bobby Ann fought, and noticed the similarity. If you find something different, let me know,
Leland
Teachers For Choice 