I oppose the discriminatory application of hospital regulations.  At the current time, the Board of Health has approved and the Governor has signed regulations which apply new hospital construction regulations to existing womens healthcare facilities which perform five or more first trimester abortions, a service which is only provided to women.

Women’s health care centers cannot be treated differently under the law. The final regulations for women’s health care centers forces current providers of first trimester abortion to comply with minimum standards for the design and construction of hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities consistent with the current edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities issued by the American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health.  There is no legitimate, non-discriminatory reason to impose a different interpretation of the law, mandating new construction standards on health care facilities which perform five or more first trimester abortions when no other existing entity is required to meet those standards.  Either all facilities must comply with the new construction standards, or all existing facilites must be grandfathered under the current standards.  Any other interpretation is discrimination.

Requiring existing abortion care facilities to comply with the 2010 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities is inconsistent with the regulation of every other type of health care facility in Virginia. In justifying imposing this requirement on existing abortion facilities, the Department of Health incorrectly asserts that “the regulatory provisions pertaining to facility design [and] construction are written based on Virginia § 32.1-127.001.” But this statute does not mandate that existing facilities meet the Guidelines standards, and clearly no other type of facility in the state has been forced to rebuild its existing building as a result of Virginia Code § 32.1-127.001.   Every single time the Board has adopted regulations implementing this code section, it has applied the regulations only to new construction and renovations of existing buildings. No other health care facility has been forced to rebuild its existing structure to comply with these Guidelines, even though Virginia Code § 32.1-127.001 applies to hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers, and outpatient surgical facilities.  These building restrictions have not even been applied to any existing hospitals in the state, much less outpatient services and facilities.

I understand that there can not be selective application of the law.  I am against requiring ANY existing hospital to come into compliance with Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities which are specifically intended to apply only to new construction, not to existing facilities.  Applying these burdensome guidelines to existing facilities will only result in further limiting access to health care in the Commonwealth.  Thank you for your consideration.