Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1300 into law Sept. 28, which requires hospitals to notify the state when planning to close labor and delivery or psychiatric units, according to a Sept. 29 CalMatters report.
The law, authored by state Sen. Dave Cortese, requires a 120-day notice of impending unit closure, a 30-day increase from the current 90-day requirement. The law also requires hospitals to hold a public hearing to provide justification for the planned unit closure, according to an Aug. 29 news release from Sen. Cortese.
The new law comes after at least 56 maternity wards in both rural and urban California have closed since 2012, according to CalMatters.