Hospital safety bill gets bipartisan support a year after deadly St. David's crash

AUSTIN (KXAN) – More than a year after a drunk driver slammed into St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, killing herself and seriously injuring five others, there’s now growing, bipartisan support for a bill – sparked by a series of KXAN investigations – aimed at preventing other disasters across the state.

“It’s a common sense bill,” said State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, after a recent committee hearing at the Capitol.

His bill, SB 660, seeks to expand what the Austin City Council unanimously approved in December – also in response to KXAN’s investigation. If passed, it would require the installation of crash-tested security barriers, called bollards, at most hospital entrances statewide. A KXAN investigation found, in the past decade, more than 400 incidents of vehicles crashing into, or at, medical centers nationwide.

“How much of an influence did our reporting, and the Bernard family’s story, influence your decision to file that bill?” asked KXAN investigative reporter Matt Grant.

“Very much. It really did,” West said. “You end up being, I guess you could say, vessels of information for us to look at legislation.”

West told KXAN his bill will save lives.

“I would be very surprised if it didn’t pass,” he said.

St. David’s is currently facing a $1 million lawsuit from the Bernard family, who were badly hurt in last year’s crash. The hospital system hasn’t commented on its bollards and said it doesn’t comment on litigation or pending legislation. St. David’s, however, previously told KXAN it would comply with any new legal or regulatory requirements that are passed.

‘Common sense approach’

West’s bill has already been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, chairs that committee and confirmed to KXAN that “it will definitely get a hearing.”

“There’s another common sense approach,” she said of the bollard measure. “You would think that many of our hospitals are doing this.”

Kolkhorst said she wants to work with West and hospital groups to “make sure we have these common sense safety standards out there.”

“We talk a lot about patient safety, you certainly don’t want to have to think about walking out of an ER, or being close to an ER, and having someone crash through it,” she said. “So, I’m very optimistic that working with our hospitals we can come up with a very good bill.”

KXAN also took our findings to State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood.

Hall sits on the committee and has worked on patient safety legislation in the past that was also sparked by a KXAN investigation.

“It would be different if there was just an isolated incident someplace that this happened,” Hall said.

“But, as you pointed out,” he added, “there are enough of them now to say this is a major problem.”

‘Literally in shock’

Dr. Ray Callas is president of the Texas Medical Association, which advocates for 60,000 Texas physicians and medical students.

He didn’t know the problem was so broad – until KXAN told him.

“I am literally in shock,” Callas said from the hospital where he works, when told about the frequency of incidents across the country.

“If we can even save one life, and we can make sure it’s safer for not only the people that are going to the hospitals, like our patients, but also all employees,” he said, “I think it’s a good thing to be doing.”

While TMA doesn’t have a bollard policy, or an official position on this legislation, Callas said West is “onto something” and his proposal is “hitting the nail on the head.” As a board certified anesthesiologist in Beaumont for more than 20 years, he’s seen a safety approach at hospitals that isn’t standardized.

“We don’t have any bollards at our hospitals,” he said. “But, whenever I travel over the state, I see some with bollards, some without.”

Citing safety concerns, and the recent terror attack in New Orleans, Callas said lawmakers “need to look into” this safety fix.

“I would definitely be in support of anything that will improve patient safety,” Callas said. “And physician safety and hospital safety for all Texans.”

Similarly, the Texas Nurses Association told KXAN elected officials should consider “all options” to create a “safe environment” patients and staff.

“The safety of nurses and hospital staff should be the highest priority of any healthcare organization,” the TNA said in a statement Wednesday. “Any and all protections should be considered to ensure our healthcare providers can come to work with confidence that they are protected and working in a safe environment.”

“As our state legislators explore every possible safety measure,” the organization added, “TNA will continue to follow this issue.”

‘A barrier to care’

Not everyone is on board with the proposal.

In a blog post at the start of the legislative session, the head of the Texas Hospital Association – which advocates for more than 85% of the state’s acute care hospitals – called the bollard bill a “one-size-fits-all” mandate and a “misguided idea.”

“[A] mandate for bollards is an unreasonable administrative cost burden that could impact access to care – and the cost of care – for many Texans,” THA CEO John Hawkins wrote in a blog post on the organization’s website titled, “Bollard Mandates for Hospitals Would Be a Barrier to Care.”

“It’s crucial that hospitals be allowed to independently assess safety measures based on the needs of their communities,” Hawkins added.

In January, an agency spokesperson echoed those sentiments in a statement to KXAN, pushing back on the proposal by arguing hospitals are one of the “most regulated industries in the country” already following hundreds of state and federal safety standards.

“We have not seen any national studies or science indicating bollards are one of the most pressing, critical components to hospital safety,” said THA spokesperson Carrie Williams.

“In a state as large and diverse as Texas, its — its family of hospital is equally varied,” Williams added. “The bollard decision is best left to individual hospitals to evaluate, as opposed to a blanket statewide regulation that doesn’t account for the individuality of hospitals and their communities.”

Safety is “of paramount importance to Texas hospitals,” Williams said. But, absent any local, state, or federal requirements, our investigation found a patchwork system where some hospitals don’t have bollards – or, like St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, only installed them after a tragedy.

“And, if they aren’t going to do it,” Hall warned from his Capitol office, “then we in the legislature have a responsibility to protect the people of Texans.”

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