Medical subcommittee approves amendment and sends bill allowing hallway beds during 'justified emergencies' to full committee

The Medical and Health Affairs subcommittee voted unanimously to adopt an amendment to House Bill 5164 and reported the bill favorably to the full committee, clearing a path for further consideration.

The bill, summarized to the panel by Trey, would create a statutory exception to fire and building codes to allow hospitals to place patient beds in hallways, corridors or other means of egress during a "justified emergency," provided other treatment space is first exhausted and a clear pathway for staff, patients and visitors remains. The amendment requires a designated member of the emergency department leadership team, as defined by the hospital's written policy, to determine that the emergency is justified and to document the start of the emergency on an electronic form developed by the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) within seven calendar days.

Supporters told the committee the change responds to recurring capacity problems in emergency departments. "Instead of a patient having to sit in the back of an ambulance or sit in a waiting room, they're able to be treated in a hallway bed," said Austin Smallwood of the South Carolina Hospital Association, who said the association drafted the measure with DPH and the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Henry Lewis of the South Carolina EMS Association said EMS handles about 1,900,000 calls per year and that hallway beds allow ambulances to return to service sooner.

DPH attorney Vito Wojcovic told members the agency licenses and inspects hospitals under the State Health Facility Licensure Act and cited the agency's hospital regulation (referred to in testimony as "regulation sixty-sixteen" and section "1002 b") that currently disallows hallway beds except in justified emergencies. Wojcovic said DPH has proposed regulatory changes that could remove the exception and that hospitals have recently received compliance citations, creating urgency for statutory clarity.

Chair Heath Sessions said the amendment was a collaborative effort with ED doctors, hospitals and DPH, intended to give clinicians a narrowly tailored tool while protecting safety: "No one plans on treating folks in hallways … but you also have a job to do and fulfill with existing code." The clerk called the roll; members voted in favor on the amendment and then on the bill as amended.

The subcommittee recorded the votes in favor and reported H5164 to the full committee for further action.