The bill comes more than a year after a drunk driver rammed into St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, killing herself and injuring five others. The news outlet also found more than 400 incidents of vehicles crashing into medical centers nationwide in the past decade.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and has bipartisan support.
However, the Texas Hospital Association has called the bill a “misguided idea.”
“[A] mandate for bollards is an unreasonable administrative cost burden that could impact access to care — and the cost of care — for many Texans,” Association CEO John Hawkins said in a blog post. “It’s crucial that hospitals be allowed to independently assess safety measures based on the needs of their communities.”
