(a) (1) Every general acute care hospital with licensed perinatal services in this state shall administer to every newborn, upon birth admission, a hearing screening test for the identification of hearing loss, using protocols approved by the department or its designee.
(2) In order to meet the department’s certification criteria, a general acute care hospital shall be responsible for developing a screening program that provides competent hearing screening, utilizes appropriate staff and equipment for administering the testing, completes the testing prior to the newborn’s discharge from a newborn nursery unit, refers infants with abnormal screening results, maintains and reports data as required by the department, and provides physician and family-parent education.
(b) A hearing screening test provided for pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be performed by a licensed physician, licensed registered nurse, licensed audiologist, or an appropriately trained individual who is supervised in the performance of the test by a licensed health care professional.
(c) Every general acute care hospital that has not been approved by the California Children’s Services (CCS) program and that has licensed perinatal services that provide care in fewer than 100 births annually shall, if it does not directly provide a hearing screening test, enter into an agreement with an outpatient infant hearing screening provider certified by the department to provide hearing screening tests.
(d) This section shall not apply to any newborn whose parent or guardian objects to the test on the grounds that the test is in violation of his or her beliefs.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 335) by Stats. 2007, Ch. 130, Sec. 176. Effective January 1, 2008.)