California AB2598: Health care facilities: notification of next of kin.

What the bill says

An act to add Section 1280.7 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 7600.5 of, and to add Section 7600.4 to, the Probate Code, relating to health care facilities. health care facilities Health care facilities: notification of next of kin. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is generally a crime…

From the chaptered text, September 27, 2026:

An act to add Section 1280.7 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 7600.5 of, and to add Section 7600.4 to, the Probate Code, relating to health care facilities. health care facilities Health care facilities: notification of next of kin. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is generally a crime. Under existing law, if a person dies in a hospital, convalescent hospital, or board and care facility without known next of kin, the person in charge of the hospital or facility is required to give immediate notice of that fact to the public administrator of the county in which the hospital or facility is located, and if the person in charge fails to do so, the hospital or facility is liable for the cost of internment, as specified, and specified losses incurred by the estate or beneficiaries as a result of the failure to notify. This bill would instead require the licensee in charge of a general acute care hospital or a skilled nursing facility to make a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin, as specified. The bill would state that this requirement is met if a skilled …

Read the full official text

Sponsors

• Maggy Krell (D, AD06) · primary sponsor
• Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D, AD04)