A new law signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday will require hospitals to form nurse staffing committees, track and report on their bed capacity levels, and draft plans to surge capacities in the event of an emergency.

The measure comes as the state emerges from some of its more dire moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. In late 2021 and early 2022, hospitals reported widespread staffing shortages, and Polis in November announced a plan to add hundreds more beds. Nurses were cited as particular employees of concern: Some left for lucrative traveling jobs, while many left the field entirely due to stress, burnout and working conditions.

House Bill 22-1401 requires every hospital to have a nurse staffing committee by Sept 1, which can be created fresh or be assigned to an existing committee. The group will draft an annual report on nurse staffing, including state-set minimum staffing requirements, efforts to promote the “health, safety and welfare” of employees and patients and reducing nurse-to-patient ratios, in a bid to reduce stress on overworked providers.

The state can investigate hospitals to ensure they’re complying with mandated reports, and hospitals must review the plan quarterly. Hospitals are also prohibited from assigning a nurse, EMT or nurse aide to a unit unless that provider has completed training and competency requirements. 

The law goes beyond nursing and into broader capacity staffing: It requires that hospitals report the baseline number of beds it can staff and its current capacity by Sept. 1. 

It also requires hospitals that fall below 80% of its baseline bed capacity for at least a week to submit a plan to address it. Hospitals can apply for a hardship waiver, but the state also has the ability to fine a hospital $1,000 per day for not meeting the 80% threshold or for not accurately reporting its capacity. 

Hospitals are also now required to plan and report their “demonstrated ability” to scale up its staffed-bed capacity to 125% of its baseline capacity, including for the intensive care unit, in the event of a public health emergency that’s exhausted other efforts by the state to improve bed space.

After Sept. 1, the state can fine hospitals up to $10,000 per day for not scaling up to 125% of capacity if required and for not having or planning for adequate vaccine and testing capabilities.