N.Y. Public Health Law Section 2803-BB
Provision of language assistance


Every general hospital shall develop a language assistance program to ensure meaningful access to the general hospital’s services and reasonable accommodation for all patients who require language assistance. Program requirements shall include:

1.

the designation of a language assistance coordinator who shall report to general hospital administration and who shall provide oversight for the provision of language assistance services;

2.

policies and procedures that ensure timely identification and ongoing access for patients in need of language assistance services;

3.

the development of materials that will be made available for patients and potential patients that summarize the process and method to access free language assistance services;

4.

ongoing education and training for administrative, clinical and other employees with direct patient care contact regarding the importance of culturally and linguistically competent service delivery and how to access the general hospital’s language assistance services on behalf of patients;

5.

signage, as designated by the department, regarding the availability of free language assistance services in public entry locations and other public locations;

6.

identification of language of preference and language needs of each patient upon initial visit to the general hospital;

7.

documentation in the medical record of the patient’s language of preference, language needs, and the acceptance or refusal of language assistance services;

8.

a provision that family members, friends, or non-general hospital personnel shall not act as interpreters, unless:

(a)

the patient agrees to their use;

(b)

free interpreter services have been offered by the general hospital and refused; and

(c)

issues of age, competency, confidentiality, or conflicts of interest are taken into account. Any individual acting as an interpreter should be sixteen years of age or older; individuals younger than sixteen years of age shall only be used in emergency circumstances and their use documented in the medical record;

9.

management of a resource of skilled interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with vision and/or hearing-impaired individuals. Interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with vision and/or hearing-impaired individuals shall be available to patients within a reasonable period of time from a request to general hospital administration by the patient, the patient’s family or representative or the provider of medical care. The commissioner may approve reasonable time periods to the provisions of this subdivision regarding interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with vision and/or hearing-impaired individuals for patients of rural general hospitals which:

(a)

demonstrate that they have taken and are continuing to take all reasonable steps to fulfill these requirements but are not able to fulfill such requirements immediately for reasons beyond the general hospital’s control; and

(b)

have developed and implemented effective interim plans addressing the communications needs of individuals in the general hospital service area;

10.

an annual needs assessment utilizing demographic information available from the United States bureau of the census, general hospital administrative data, school system data, or other sources, that shall identify limited English-speaking groups comprising more than one percent of the total general hospital service area population. Translations/transcriptions of significant general hospital forms and instructions shall be regularly available for the languages identified by the needs assessment; and

11.

reasonable accommodation for a family member or patient’s representative to be present to assist with the communication assistance needs for patients with mental and developmental disabilities.

Source: Section 2803-BB — Provision of language assistance, https://www.­nysenate.­gov/legislation/laws/PBH/2803-BB (updated Dec. 12, 2025; accessed Dec. 13, 2025).

2800
Declaration of policy and statement of purpose
2801
Definitions
2801–A
Establishment or incorporation of hospitals
2801–B
Improper practices in hospital staff appointments and extension of professional privileges prohibited
2801–C
Injunctions
2801–D
Private actions by patients of residential health care facilities
2801–E
Voluntary residential health care facility rightsizing demonstration program
2801–F
Residential health care facility quality incentive payment program
2801–G
Community forum on hospital closure
2801–H
Personal caregiving and compassionate caregiving visitors to nursing home residents during declared local or state health emergencies
2802
Approval of construction
2802–A
Transitional care unit demonstration program
2802–B
Health equity impact assessments
2803
Commissioner and council
2803–A
Authority to contract
2803–AA
Sickle cell disease information distribution
2803–AA*2
Nursing home infection control competency audit
2803–B
Uniform reports and accounting systems for hospital costs
2803–BB
Provision of language assistance
2803–C
Rights of patients in certain medical facilities
2803–C–1
Rights of patients in certain medical facilities
2803–C–2
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and people living with HIV long-term care facility residents’ bill of rights
2803–D
Reporting abuses of persons receiving care or services in residential health care facilities
2803–E
Residential health care facilities
2803–E*2
Reporting incidents of possible professional misconduct
2803–F
Respite projects
2803–G
Board of visitors in county owned residential health care facility
2803–H
Health related facility
2803–I
General hospital inpatient discharge review program
2803–J
Information for maternity patients
2803–J*2
Nursing home nurse aide registry
2803–K
In-patient nasogastric feeding procedures
2803–L
Community service plans
2803–M
Discharge of hospital patients to adult homes
2803–N
Hospital care for maternity patients
2803–O
Hospital care for mastectomy, lumpectomy, and lymph node dissection patients
2803–P
Disclosure of information concerning family violence
2803–Q
Family councils in residential health care facilities
2803–R
Dissemination of information about the abandoned infant protection act
2803–S
Access to product recall information
2803–T
Preadmission information
2803–U
Hospital substance use disorder policies and procedures
2803–V
Lymphedema information distribution
2803–V*2
Standing orders for newborn care in a hospital
2803–W
Independent quality monitors for residential health care facilities
2803–W*2
Disclosure of information concerning pregnancy complications
2803–X
Requirements related to nursing homes and related assets and operations
2803–Y
Provision of residency agreement
2803–Z
Transfer, discharge and voluntary discharge requirements for residential health care facilities
2803–Z*2
Antimicrobial resistance prevention and education
2804
Units for hospital and health-related affairs
2804–A
State task force on clinical practice guidelines and medical technology assessment
2805
Approval of hospitals
2805–A
Disclosure of financial transactions
2805–B
Admission of patients and emergency treatment of nonadmitted patients
2805–C
Every private proprietary nursing home having a capacity of eighty patients or more may have a licensed medical doctor in attendance, upo...
2805–D
Limitation of medical, dental or podiatric malpractice action based on lack of informed consent
2805–E
Reports of residential health care facilities
2805–F
Money deposited or advanced for admittance to nursing homes
2805–G
Maintenance of records
2805–H
Immunizations
2805–I
Treatment of sexual offense victims and maintenance of evidence in a sexual offense
2805–J
Medical, dental and podiatric malpractice prevention program
2805–K
Investigations prior to granting or renewing privileges
2805–L
Adverse event reporting
2805–M
Confidentiality
2805–N
Child abuse prevention
2805–O
Identification of veterans and their spouses by nursing homes, residential health care facilities, and adult care facilities
2805–P
Emergency treatment of rape survivors
2805–Q
Hospital visitation by domestic partner
2805–R
Patients unable to verbally communicate
2805–S
Circulating nurse required
2805–T
Clinical staffing committees and disclosure of nursing quality indicators
2805–U
Credentialing and privileging of health care practitioners providing telemedicine services
2805–V
Observation services
2805–W
Patient notice of observation services
2805–X
Hospital-home care-physician collaboration program
2805–Y
Identification and assessment of human trafficking victims
2805–Z
Hospital domestic violence policies and procedures
2806
Hospital operating certificates
2806–A
Temporary operator
2806–B
Residential health care facilities
2807
Hospital reimbursement provisions
2807–A
General hospital nineteen hundred eighty-six and nineteen hundred eighty-seven inpatient rates and charges
2807–AA
Nurse loan repayment program
2807–B
Outstanding payments and reports due under subdivision eighteen of section twenty-eight hundred seven-c, sections twenty-eight hundred se...
2807–C
General hospital inpatient reimbursement for annual rate periods beginning on or after January first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight
2807–D
Hospital assessments
2807–D–1
Hospital quality contributions
2807–DD
Temporary nursing home stability contributions
2807–E
Uniform bills
2807–F
Health maintenance organization payment factor
2807–FF
New York managed care organization provider tax
2807–I
Service and quality improvement grants
2807–J
Patient services payments
2807–K
General hospital indigent care pool
2807–L
Health care initiatives pool distributions
2807–M
Distribution of the professional education pools
2807–N
Palliative care education and training
2807–O
Early intervention services pool
2807–P
Comprehensive diagnostic and treatment centers indigent care program
2807–R
Funding for expansion of cancer services
2807–S
Professional education pool funding
2807–T
Assessments on covered lives
2807–U
Transfers for tax credits
2807–V
Tobacco control and insurance initiatives pool distributions
2807–W
High need indigent care adjustment pool
2807–X
Grants for long term care demonstration projects
2807–Y
Pool administration
2807–Z
Review of eligible federally qualified health center capital projects
2808
Residential health care facilities
2808–A
Liability of certain persons
2808–B
Certification of financial statements and financial information
2808–C
Reimbursement of general hospital inpatient services
2808–D
Nursing home quality improvement demonstration program
2808–E
Residential health care for children with medical fragility in transition to young adults and young adults with medical fragility demonst...
2808–E*2
Nursing home ratings
2808–F
Advanced residential health care for aging adults medical fragility demonstration program
2809
Residential health care facilities
2810
Residential health care facilities
2811
Discounts and splitting fees with medical referral services
2812
Construction
2813
Separability
2814
Health networks, global budgeting, and health care demonstrations
2815
Health facility restructuring program
2815–A
Community health care revolving capital fund
2816
Statewide planning and research cooperative system
2816–A
Cardiac services information
2817
Community health centers capital program
2818
Health care efficiency and affordability law of New Yorkers (HEAL NY) capital grant program
2819
Hospital acquired infection reporting
2820
Home based primary care for the elderly demonstration project
2821
State electronic health records (EHR) loan program
2822
Residential care off-site facility demonstration project
2823
Supportive housing development program
2824
Central service technicians
2824*2
Surgical technology and surgical technologists
2825
Capital restructuring financing program
2825–A
Health care facility transformation program: Kings county project
2825–B
Oneida county health care facility transformation program: Oneida county project
2825–C
Essential health care provider support program
2825–D
Health care facility transformation program: statewide
2825–E
Health care facility transformation program: statewide II
2825–F
Health care facility transformation program: statewide III
2825–G
Health care facility transformation program: statewide IV
2825–H
Health care facility transformation program: statewide V
2825–I
Healthcare safety net transformation program
2826
Temporary adjustment to reimbursement rates
2827
Plant-based food options
2828
Residential health care facilities
2828*2
Essential support persons allowed for individuals with disabilities during a state of emergency
2829
Nursing homes
2830
Surgical smoke evacuation
2830*2
Regulation of the billing of facility fees
2831
Medically fragile young adults

Verified:
Dec. 13, 2025

Last modified:
Dec. 12, 2025

§ 2803-BB. Provision of language assistance's source at nysenate​.gov

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