SB 524 - Under this act, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall not require a plan of correction or deny a hospital's designation as a trauma, STEMI, or stroke center based solely on a deficiency found during a site review for designation if, prior to such review, the hospital had an active plan of correction and monitoring for such deficiency. Additionally, the Department shall designate a hospital as a Level I STEMI center if such hospital has been certified as a comprehensive cardiac center or a comprehensive heart attack center by the Joint Commission. Under current law, any hospital designated as a Level III stroke center under certain provisions of law shall have a formal agreement with a Level I or Level II stroke center for physician consultative services. Under this act, such hospitals shall have the formal agreement with either the Level I or Level II stroke centers or a tele-neurology service for physician consultative services. Tele-neurology physicians shall be credentialed to provide stroke care. Finally, the Department shall not specify the number of physicians or other licensed practitioners necessary to satisfy coverage or backup requirements for any designation. Such facilities shall maintain and have available protocols or processes and medical staff or other licensed practitioners credentialed to assess, diagnose, and treat patients twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Such protocols and processes shall detail the center's plan for coverage of backup capacity to meet the needs of multiple complex patients and shall be deemed satisfied through contingency plans such as coverage arrangements, or transfer agreements with another like or higher-level facility, and telehealth may be utilized in such arrangements. The Department shall allow a physician to satisfy coverage requirements for multiple designations. This act is similar to SB 873 (2024) and HB 2220 (2024). SARAH HASKINS