2024 Florida Statutes
Title XXIX - Public Health
Chapter 383 - Maternal and Infant Health Care
383.316 - Transfer and Transport of Clients to Hospitals.

(1) If unforeseen complications arise during labor, delivery, or postpartum recovery, the client must be transferred to a hospital.

(2) Each birth center shall make arrangements with a local ambulance service licensed under chapter 401 for the transport of emergency patients to a hospital. Such arrangements must be documented in the center’s policy and procedures manual if the birth center does not own or operate a licensed ambulance. The policy and procedures manual also must contain specific protocols for the transfer of any patient to a licensed hospital.

(3) Each advanced birth center shall enter into a written transfer agreement with a local hospital licensed under chapter 395 for the transfer and admission of emergency patients to the hospital or a written agreement with an obstetrician who has hospital privileges to provide coverage at all times and who has agreed to accept the transfer of the advanced birth center’s patients.

(4) A birth center shall identify neonatal-specific transportation services, including ground and air ambulances; list their particular qualifications; and have the telephone numbers for access to these services clearly listed and immediately available.

(5) The birth center shall assess and document the transportation services and transfer protocols annually.

History.—ss. 9, 19, 27, ch. 84-283; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 12, ch. 2024-15.