Baker signs Laura s Law improving ER access, signage Share Updated: 4:56 PM EST Jan 15, 2021
Baker signs Laura s Law improving ER access, signage Share Updated: 4:56 PM EST Jan 15, 2021
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Show Transcript LAURA AND HER STORY. AN EMOTIONAL DAY FOR LAURA’S FAMILY. THE GOVERNOR SAID HE WAS GRATEFUL TO THE FAMILIES RESILIENCY IN PUSHING THIS THROUGH. THE HUSBAND SAID HE IS RELIEVED, THE DETAILS TRAGIC. HE’S RELIEVED NO ONE ELSE WOULD HAVE TO DIE TRYING TO GET INTO NER. SHE WAS THE HEALTHIEST PERSON I KNEW, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING AND THAT WAS THAT SHE HAD ASTHMA. PETER’S WIFE DIED FOUR YEARS AGO OUTSIDE OF A SOMERVILLE HOSPITAL TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT UNLOCKED EMERGENCY ROOM DOOR. SHE WAS 34. HER HUSBAND PUSHING THROUGH HIS GRIEF, HAS HELPED PUSH THROUGH LAURA’S LAW. GOVERNOR CHARLIE BAKER SIGNING THE ACT TO ENSURE SAFE PATIENT ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CARE, A SAFETY NET FOR US ALL. I THINK WHAT WE TRY TO DO IS CREATE A UNIFO
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signs ‘Laura’s law,’ named after woman who died looking for ER
Updated Jan 14, 2021;
Gov. Charlie Baker plans to sign a bill that aims to improve access to emergency care, known as “Laura’s Law” on Friday, January 15, at the Massachusetts State House.
Four years after Laura Levis died looking for the emergency room entrance, the bill her husband advocated for in her honor is on track to become law. The bill would create a working group to make recommendations on improving hospital signage, lighting and other way-finding elements. It also requires the state Department of Public Health to create regulations to mandate those improvements.
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Gov. Charlie Baker is expected to sign Laura s Law Friday. (Shutterstock)
SOMERVILLE, MA A bill designed to improve access to emergency rooms across the state will be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker Friday. The legislation, known as Laura s Law, was enacted by the Massachusetts House and Senate in their formal session last week.
The bill was written following the death of Laura Levis outside Somerville Hospital in 2016.
Details of Levis s death emerged in a 2018 Boston Globe Magazine story written by her husband, Peter DeMarco. Levis brought herself to the hospital in the midst of a severe asthma attack, found the door locked and called 911.
New law honoring Laura Levis aims to improve hospital access, avert another tragedy
By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey Globe Staff,Updated January 13, 2021, 3:28 p.m.
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Laura Levis, with her husband Peter DeMarco.
More than four years after Laura Levis collapsed outside the locked door of a hospital emergency room and later died, a new law in her name aims to prevent another such tragedy.
Massachusetts House and Senate lawmakers enacted the law in the final hours of their formal session last week, and Governor Charlie Baker plans to sign it Friday.
The measure known as âLauraâs Lawâ requires the state Department of Public Health to set standards for access to hospital emergency rooms, including appropriate lighting and signage to direct people to the ER, and security and monitoring of all ER entrances.