410 ILCS 70/5.4

(410 ILCS 70/5.4)

Sec. 5.4. Out-of-state hospitals.

(a) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the transfer of a patient in need of medical services from a hospital that has been designated as a trauma center by the Department in accordance with Section 3.90 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.

(b) A transfer hospital, treatment hospital with approved pediatric transfer, or approved pediatric health care facility may transfer a sexual assault survivor to an out-of-state hospital that is located in a county that borders Illinois if the out-of-state hospital: (1) submits an areawide treatment plan approved by the Department; and (2) has certified the following to the Department in a form and manner prescribed by the Department that the out-of-state hospital will:

(i) consent to the jurisdiction of the Department in accordance with Section 2.06 of this Act;

(ii) comply with all requirements of this Act applicable to treatment hospitals, including, but not limited to, offering evidence collection to any Illinois sexual assault survivor who presents with a complaint of acute sexual assault and not billing the sexual assault survivor for the medical forensic examination or 180 days of follow-up healthcare;

(iii) use an Illinois State Police Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit to collect forensic evidence from an Illinois acute sexual assault survivor;

(iv) ensure its staff cooperates with Illinois law enforcement agencies and are responsive to subpoenas issued by Illinois courts; and

(v) provide appropriate transportation upon the completion of a medical forensic examination back to the transfer hospital or treatment hospital with pediatric transfer where the sexual assault survivor initially presented seeking a medical forensic examination, unless the sexual assault survivor chooses to arrange his or her own transportation.

(Source: P.A. 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 104-386, eff. 1-1-26.)