1997 Wisconsin Act 153

  Date of enactment: April 21, 1998
1997 Assembly Bill 397   Date of publication*: May 5, 1998

* Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 1995-96: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of enactment].

1997 WISCONSIN ACT 153

An Act to create 146.95 of the statutes; relating to: hospital visitation.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

153,1 Section 1 . 146.95 of the statutes is created to read:

146.95 Patient visitation. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Health care provider" has the meaning given in s. 155.01 (7)

(b) “Inpatient health care facility" has the meaning given in s. 252.14 (1) (d).

(c) “Treatment facility" has the meaning given in s. 51.01 (19).

(2) Patient-designated visitors. (a) Any individual who is 18 years of age or older may identify to a health care provider at an inpatient health care facility at any time, either orally or in writing, those persons with whom the individual wishes to visit while the individual is a patient at the inpatient health care facility. Except as provided in par. (b), no inpatient health care facility may deny visitation during the inpatient health care facility's regular visiting hours to any person identified by the individual.

(b) Subject to s. 51.61 for a treatment facility, an inpatient health care facility may deny visitation with a patient to any person if any of the following applies:

1. The inpatient health care facility or a health care provider determines that the patient may not receive any visitors.

2. The inpatient health care facility or a health care provider determines that the presence of the person would endanger the health or safety of the patient.

3. The inpatient health care facility determines that the presence of the person would interfere with the primary operations of the inpatient health care facility.

4. The patient has subsequently expressed in writing to a health care provider at the inpatient health care facility that the patient no longer wishes to visit with the person. Unless subd. 2. applies, an inpatient health care facility may not under this subdivision deny visitation to the person based on a claim by someone other than a health care provider that the patient has orally expressed that the patient no longer wishes to visit with that person.