Hospital safety law, sparked by KXAN, now in effect

Editor's Note: The above video is KXAN's previous coverage of Austin City Council approving the ordinance.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A new law sparked by a KXAN investigation into a deadly emergency room crash is now in effect. The new ordinance is aimed at making Austin hospitals safer and more secure.

"Absolutely, this will save lives," said Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who introduced the resolution in July after watching KXAN's investigation into the Feb. 13 crash at St. David's North Austin Medical Center.

Under the city's new law, crash-rated security barriers, called bollards, are now required at new hospitals, urgent care clinics and stand-alone ERs. Existing facilities that expand in the future will have to take those same safety steps. The ordinance officially took effect Monday, according to the city clerk's office, 11 days after it was approved.

"St. David's HealthCare installed bollards at all of our hospitals prior to the Austin City Council approving the ordinance," the hospital group said, "and we will work with policymakers to ensure compliance with any new legal or regulatory requirement."

The new ordinance follows months of policymaking and a last-minute attempt to postpone a vote by Council Member Zo Qadri, which failed. Qadri, who is exploring a separate measure to require bollards downtown, cited concerns from the Austin Planning Commission that the measure wasn't broad enough to protect other types of businesses beyond.

It received unanimous approval during the Dec. 12 council meeting -- the last meeting before Kelly's term ends.

'A great day for Austin'

This comes 10 months after a driver -- who autopsy records show was intoxicated at the time -- crashed into the ER lobby of St. David's NAMC, killing herself and injuring five others.

The Bernard family, who were badly injured that day and shared their story exclusively with KXAN, filed a $1 million "gross negligence" lawsuit against the hospital for not having bollards at the time -- a security feature in place at its other hospitals.

After the deadly crash, the hospital initially credited a lobby fish tank for absorbing the impact of the vehicle. Levi and Nadia Bernard were staring at the fish with their two toddlers when they were run over, according to surveillance video obtained by KXAN through a public records request.

Following our questions, the hospital installed a dozen bollards after the incident. It has not said if they are crash-rated.

The hospital would not say if the dozen bollards it installed after the deadly incident are crash-rated.

"Due to the ongoing litigation surrounding this issue, we will not provide any additional information," St. David's HealthCare said.

The Bernard family shared their story with KXAN out of a desire that "no one else will have to go through what we're going through," Nadia previously said. The family is "absolutely enthused" to see the new law go into effect, their attorney said.

"And very grateful that the city council acted appropriately and quickly here. This is a great day for Austin," the family's attorney, Sean Breen, said after the council's vote. "It doesn't help the Bernard's but it will help other families not have to go through what they've gone through."

Planning Commission withdraws from weighing in

Before the bollard requirement was approved, the Austin Planning Commission opted to postpone recommending it over concerns, in part, that the measure -- which only applies to medical facilities -- was too narrow and didn't go far enough to protect other types of businesses. The APC voted to take the issue up again on Jan. 28.

The item will still be on the agenda but will be indicated as "withdrawn" since it already passed, said APC Chair Claire Hempel.

"It will be up to Council to pass a resolution expanding the scope of the original item to cover more places like daycares, etc, as was going to be the discussion" at next month's meeting, Hempel said in an email to KXAN.

KXAN finds 400+ medical crashes

The new law comes as a response to 10 months of KXAN investigations. Following the incident at St. David's NAMC, our team collected and analyzed data from the Storefront Safety Council -- a nonprofit that tracks vehicle crashes --along with TxDOT crash data, police and news reports and built our own database.

Since our initial investigation, we have found more than 400 crashes at, or into, medical centers nationwide in the last decade. When we combined data from the SSC with crash data from TxDOT, we found more than 100 crashes in Texas since 2014.

In response to our findings, a handful of other cities, including Cedar Park, and College Station, expressed interest in a similar ordinance to strengthen security at area hospitals.

"My hope is that other communities can use this as a framework to get it passed in their jurisdictions," Kelly said.

Last Thursday, State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, filed a bill that would require crash-rated bollards at existing emergency rooms if they are "located near near an area with vehicular traffic." In October, following our investigations, West pledged "to do everything" in his power to prevent another tragedy and "make sure" what happened at St. David's NAMC "doesn't happen again."

In recent days and weeks, there have been crashes at medical centers in Fort Worth, California, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, previously sent letters to the General Services Administration requesting a review of all federally owned and leased buildings in the southwestern U.S. He cited "the in-depth investigative reporting" of KXAN along with “growing security concerns in recent years."