Senate panel hears testimony on hospital bollard bill sparked by KXAN
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing Tuesday afternoon on a hospital safety bill directly sparked by a series of KXAN investigations.
The committee, which meets inside the Senate chamber at 1 p.m., is set to hear testimony related to Senate Bill 660 and 'the installation of bollards or another safety barrier adjacent to certain hospital emergency rooms,' according to the public notice.
READ: Full text of Senate Bill 660, sparked by KXAN investigation
The bill — which has bipartisan support — was filed by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas in response to KXAN's investigation into a deadly accident at St. David's North Austin Medical Center in February of last year.
If it passes, it would require crash-rated security bollards at emergency room entrances 'located near an area with vehicular traffic.'
Levi and Nadia Bernard and their two toddlers were run over inside the hospital lobby by a driver whose blood-alcohol level was three-to-four times the legal limit to drive, according to the toxicology results. The family shared their story exclusively with KXAN.
'We re-emphasize to the Bernard family: What happened to you is a tragedy and it shouldn't happen again in the state of Texas,' West previously said in a message aimed at the family of four. 'And, I'm going to do everything I can in my power to make sure it doesn't happen again.'
Hospital safety bill gets bipartisan support a year after deadly St. David's crash
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who chairs the committee, called West's proposal 'common sense.' Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, who also sits on the committee, said what KXAN uncovered — more than 400 crashes at or into medical facilities nationwide of the past decade — is 'a major problem.'
'If [hospitals] aren't going to' install crash-rated bollards, Hall warned from his Capitol office, 'then we in the legislature have a responsibility to protect the people of Texas.'
Former Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly is expected to testify in favor of the bill. In December, the council unanimously approved an ordinance requiring crash-rated bollards at new medical facilities and existing ones that expand. The change was initiated by a resolution Kelly filed months earlier, which she asked staff to draft in the middle of watching a KXAN investigation.
St. David's North installed bollards after the deadly crash and KXAN's questions. However, the hospital would not tell us, despite multiple attempts, if any are crash-rated.
Watch: Texas-tested security barriers could prevent ER crash disaster
Without a uniform statewide standard, KXAN found a patchwork system where some hospitals are protected while others are left vulnerable. Associations representing Texas nurses and physicians have spoken positively about the bill. The safety steps are opposed by the Texas Hospital Association, which calls them 'misguided' and 'an unreasonable administrative cost burden.'
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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