CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

99

Introduced by Assembly Member Blanca Rubio

February 18, 2026

An act to add Section 129881 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to hospitals.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health Care Access and Information, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospital buildings. Under existing law, a hospital building includes any building that is used, or designed to be used, for a health facility of a type required to be licensed, as specified. Under existing law, a hospital building does not include, among others, a freestanding building used, or designed to be used, as a congregate living health facility or a hospice facility.

This bill would exempt a general acute care hospital from the requirements of the act if, among other things, the hospital building is a freestanding building used, or designed to be used, exclusively to provide extended hospital care to patients with complex medical and rehabilitative needs and the hospital building has met all the seismic requirements that a hospital was required to meet prior to January 1, 2021.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 129881 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

129881.

A general acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250, shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter if all of the following have been met:

(a) The general acute care hospital meets the classification criteria of a long-term care hospital set forth in the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1395x(ccc)).

(b) The hospital building is a freestanding building used, or designed to be used, exclusively to provide extended hospital care to patients with complex medical and rehabilitative needs.

(c) The hospital building has met all the seismic requirements that a hospital was required to meet prior to January 1, 2021.