# Virginia HB1318: Hospitals; emergency department physicians.

Virginia HB1318, Hospitals; emergency department physicians., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Rodney T. Willett (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0296)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1318-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB1318
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Hospitals; emergency department physicians.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-16
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0296)
- Sponsor: Rodney T. Willett (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (199 yes, 14 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 7

## Summary

Hospitals; psychiatric emergency departments. Allows hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments located in the City of Hampton to operate without a physician on duty when certain conditions are met, including having written agreements in place with emergency medical service providers and being immediately adjacent to a non-psychiatric emergency department. The bill requires such psychiatric emergency departments to submit treatment data to the General Assembly on an annual basis by November 1. This bill is identical to SB 738.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- On-site doctors for emergency care: benefit, medium. Covered Virginia emergency departments must always have a Virginia-licensed doctor physically present and primarily responsible for the department. Adjacent psychiatric emergency departments are exempt if their protocols ensure an immediate doctor response to medical emergencies. A psychiatric-only…
- Fentanyl testing and overdose medicine access: benefit, low. Diagnostic urine drug screens at hospitals with emergency departments must include fentanyl testing. Patients discharged after a substance use-related emergency receive a prescription for naloxone or another overdose-reversal medicine. They also receive information about getting the medicine from c…
- Inpatients can use personal smart assistants: benefit, low. Hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities must set and follow policies allowing patients to use personal smart assistants. This applies during inpatient care when patients provide the assistants themselves. Use must follow health privacy rules, including HIPAA, and other applicable…
- Parents get online hospital record access: benefit, low. Hospitals that let minors view their health records through a secure website must also give parents or guardians access. Hospitals need not provide access that reveals information whose disclosure was legally denied or lacks legally required consent.
- Patient visits during disease emergencies: benefit, low. During a COVID-19 public health emergency, nursing homes and certified nursing facilities must allow visits every 10 calendar days. Plans must follow federal and state guidance and explain when visits are in person or virtual. Facilities must share their plans and address visitor safety, technology…
- Hospitals must remove smoke during surgery: benefit, low. Hospitals must adopt policies requiring smoke evacuation systems for every planned surgery likely to produce surgical smoke. Systems must capture, filter, and remove smoke where it starts. They must keep the smoke away from people's eyes and breathing passages.
- Cost-based license fees for care facilities: cost, low. The Board must set hospital and nursing home license fees to fairly cover licensing and inspection costs. Fees may change no more than once a year, and only when expenses are allocated to the program fund. Adjustments require a cost variance greater than 10%, considering program fund expenses and s…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Rodney T. Willett (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 14 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 90 | 7 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute | pass | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute | pass | 14 | 6 | 1 |

## Actions (31)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0296) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 296 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1318) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1318ER) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Reported from Education and Health (14-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1318) (House)
- 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House (90-Y 7-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-16: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-15: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-12: Committee substitute printed 26106234D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-12: Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute (14-Y 6-N 1-A) (House)
- 2026-02-12: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-12: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (4-Y 1-N 1-A) (House)
- 2026-01-23: Assigned sub: Behavioral Health (House)
- 2026-01-20: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1318) (House)
- 2026-01-16: Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services (House)
- 2026-01-16: Presented and ordered printed 26104588D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217379.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217378.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194248.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194247.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143272.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143268.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142959.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143271.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142958.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143267.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-16: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089499.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089498.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217379.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217378.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194248.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194247.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143272.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143268.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142959.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143271.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142958.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143267.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089499.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089498.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1318-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).