Beginning July 1, 2023, Article 8 (32.1-162.15:2 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia requires hospitals to have a plan to either treat or transfer survivors of sexual assault and that plan must be approved by the Virginia Department of Health.
The requirement to have a plan applies to all licensed hospitals, both inpatient and outpatient surgical; a facility’s federal certification status as an ambulatory does not impact its obligation to comply with these new state requirements.
There are separate plan requirements for adult survivors and pediatric (under 18 years old) survivors, so each hospital is responsible for identifying whether its patient population includes pediatrics and creating the necessary plan(s) to serve its patient population. Hospitals have the choice of either treating or transferring survivors of sexual assault and may adopt a “split” approach if the hospital serves both adult and pediatric patient populations, i.e., the hospital can opt to treat adult survivors and transfer pediatric survivors and vice versa.
The Office of Licensure and Certification has created checklists to help guide plan development. These checklists are available here:
- Adult Treatment Plan
- Pediatric Treatment Plan (full range of treatment services offered to all pediatric patients)
- Pediatric Treatment Plan (partial range of treatment services offered to pediatric patients)
- Adult Transfer Plan
- Pediatric Transfer Plan
The items listed on the checklist is what OLC staff will be looking for when reviewing plans. Hospitals are encouraged, though not required, to adequately label/signpost the required elements in their plan to help OLC staff more efficiently review plans and to ensure no element is inadvertently omitted.
OLC staff cannot provide consultation on plan development; it can only review plans that been received and determine if the minimum elements are present. Please consult with legal counsel if you have questions when developing plans).
Plan Submission
- Send your plan as a PDF to olc-sasplans@vdh.virginia.gov with the appropriate subject line from the list below:
- Your Facility Name – NEW Adult Treatment Plan
- Your Facility Name – NEW Pediatric Treatment Plan (Full)
- Your Facility Name – NEW Pediatric Treatment Plan (Partial)
- Your Facility Name – NEW Adult Transfer Plan
- Your Facility Name – NEW Pediatric Transfer Plan
- If your facility is submitting two plans (one for adults, one for pediatrics), send each plan separately.
- You will receive a response from OLC either approving or denying the plan within 30 calendar days. If your plan is denied, the response will include (i) which elements are missing or incomplete that resulted in the denial and (ii) instructions on how to re-submit the plan once the missing or incomplete element(s) have been corrected.
EXAMPLE: XYZ Hospital is submitting an adult transfer plan and a pediatric treatment plan for the full range of treatment services. The hospital should send two (2) emails to olc-sasplans@vdh.virginia.gov; the first email has the subject line “XYZ Hospital – NEW Adult Transfer Plan” and the second email has the subject line “XYZ Hospital – NEW Pediatric Treatment Plan (Full).”