1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
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3 SENATE BILL 261 By: Howard
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 An Act relating to The Governmental Tort Claims Act;
7 amending 51 O.S. 2021, Section 152, as last amended
8 by Section 18, Chapter 228, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S.
8 Supp. 2022, Section 152), which relates to
9 definitions; modifying definition; and providing an
9 effective date.
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12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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13 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2021, Section 152, as last
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14 amended by Section 18, Chapter 228, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S. Supp. 2022,
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15 Section 152), is amended to read as follows:
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16 Section 152. As used in The Governmental Tort Claims Act:
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17 1. “Action” means a proceeding in a court of competent
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18 jurisdiction by which one party brings a suit against another;
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19 2. “Agency” means any board, commission, committee, department
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20 or other instrumentality or entity designated to act in behalf of
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21 the state or a political subdivision;
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22 3. “Charitable health care provider” means a person who is
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23 licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this
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24 state to administer health care in the ordinary course of business
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 1 or the practice of a profession and who provides care to a medically
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2 indigent person, as defined in paragraph 9 of this section, with no
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3 expectation of or acceptance of compensation of any kind;
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4 4. “Claim” means any written demand presented by a claimant or
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5 the claimant’s authorized representative in accordance with the
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6 Governmental Tort Claims Act to recover money from the state or
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7 political subdivision as compensation for an act or omission of a
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8 political subdivision or the state or an employee;
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9 5. “Claimant” means the person or the person’s authorized
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10 representative who files notice of a claim in accordance with The
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11 Governmental Tort Claims Act. Only the following persons and no
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12 others may be claimants:
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13 a. any person holding an interest in real or personal
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14 property which suffers a loss, provided that the claim
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15 of the person shall be aggregated with claims of all
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16 other persons holding an interest in the property and
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17 the claims of all other persons which are derivative
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18 of the loss, and that multiple claimants shall be
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19 considered a single claimant,
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20 b. the individual actually involved in the accident or
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21 occurrence who suffers a loss, provided that the
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22 individual shall aggregate in the claim the losses of
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23 all other persons which are derivative of the loss, or
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 1 c. in the case of death, an administrator, special
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2 administrator or a personal representative who shall
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3 aggregate in the claim all losses of all persons which
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4 are derivative of the death;
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5 6. “Community health care provider” means:
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6 a. a health care provider who volunteers services at a
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7 community health center that has been deemed by the
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8 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a
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9 federally qualified health center as defined by 42
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10 U.S.C., Section 1396d(l)(2)(B),
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11 b. a health provider who provides services to an
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12 organization that has been deemed a federally
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13 qualified look-alike community health center, and
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14 c. a health care provider who provides services to a
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15 community health center that has made application to
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16 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for
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17 approval and deeming as a federally qualified look-
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18 alike community health center in compliance with
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19 federal application guidance, and has received
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20 comments from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
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21 Services as to the status of such application with the
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22 established intent of resubmitting a modified
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23 application, or, if denied, a new application, no
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24 later than six (6) months from the date of the
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 1 official notification from the U.S. Department of
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2 Health and Human Services requiring resubmission of a
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3 new application;
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4 7. “Employee” means any person who is authorized to act in
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5 behalf of a political subdivision or the state whether that person
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6 is acting on a permanent or temporary basis, with or without being
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7 compensated or on a full-time or part-time basis.
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8 a. Employee also includes:
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9 (1) all elected or appointed officers, members of
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10 governing bodies and other persons designated to
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11 act for an agency or political subdivision, but
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12 the term does not mean a person or other legal
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13 entity while acting in the capacity of an
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14 independent contractor or an employee of an
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15 independent contractor,
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16 (2) from September 1, 1991, through June 30, 1996,
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17 licensed physicians, licensed osteopathic
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18 physicians and certified nurse-midwives providing
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19 prenatal, delivery or infant care services to
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20 State Department of Health clients pursuant to a
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21 contract entered into with the State Department
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22 of Health in accordance with paragraph 3 of
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23 subsection B of Section 1-106 of Title 63 of the
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24 Oklahoma Statutes but only insofar as services
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 1 authorized by and in conformity with the terms of
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2 the contract and the requirements of Section 1-
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3 233 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and
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4 (3) any volunteer, full-time or part-time firefighter
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5 when performing duties for a fire department
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6 provided for in subparagraph j of paragraph 11 of
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7 this section.
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8 b. For the purpose of The Governmental Tort Claims Act,
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9 the following are employees of this state, regardless
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10 of the place in this state where duties as employees
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11 are performed:
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12 (1) physicians acting in an administrative capacity,
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13 (2) resident physicians and resident interns
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14 participating in a graduate medical education
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15 program of the University of Oklahoma Health
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16 Sciences Center, the College of Osteopathic
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17 Medicine of Oklahoma State University, or the
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18 Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
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19 Services,
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20 (3) faculty members and staff of the University of
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21 Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the College
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22 of Osteopathic Medicine of Oklahoma State
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23 University, while engaged in teaching duties,
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 1 (4) physicians who practice medicine or act in an
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2 administrative capacity as an employee of an
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3 agency of the State of Oklahoma,
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4 (5) physicians who provide medical care to inmates
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5 pursuant to a contract with the Department of
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6 Corrections,
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7 (6) any person who is licensed to practice medicine
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8 pursuant to Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
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9 who is under an administrative professional
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10 services contract with the Oklahoma Health Care
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11 Authority under the auspices of the Oklahoma
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12 Health Care Authority Chief Medical Officer, and
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13 who is limited to performing administrative
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14 duties such as professional guidance for medical
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15 reviews, reimbursement rates, service
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16 utilization, health care delivery and benefit
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17 design for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority,
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18 only while acting within the scope of such
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19 contract,
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20 (7) licensed medical professionals under contract
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21 with city, county, or state entities who provide
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22 medical care to inmates or detainees in the
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23 custody or control of law enforcement agencies,
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 1 (8) licensed mental health professionals as defined
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2 in Sections 1-103 and 5-502 of Title 43A of the
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3 Oklahoma Statutes, who are conducting initial
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4 examinations of individuals for the purpose of
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5 determining whether an individual meets the
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6 criteria for emergency detention as part of a
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7 contract with the Department of Mental Health and
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8 Substance Abuse Services, and
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9 (9) licensed mental health professionals as defined
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10 in Sections 1-103 and 5-502 of Title 43A of the
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11 Oklahoma Statutes, who are providing mental
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12 health or substance abuse treatment services
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13 under a professional services contract with the
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14 Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
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15 Services and are providing such treatment
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16 services at a state-operated facility.
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17 Physician faculty members and staff of the University
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18 of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the College of
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19 Osteopathic Medicine of Oklahoma State University not
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20 acting in an administrative capacity or engaged in
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21 teaching duties are not employees or agents of the
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22 state.
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23 c. Except as provided in subparagraph b of this
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24 paragraph, in no event shall the state be held liable
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 1 for the tortious conduct of any physician, resident
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2 physician or intern while practicing medicine or
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3 providing medical treatment to patients.
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4 d. For purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act,
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5 members of the state military forces on state active
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6 duty orders or on Title 32 active duty orders are
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7 employees of this state, regardless of the place,
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8 within or outside this state, where their duties as
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9 employees are performed;
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10 8. “Loss” means death or injury to the body or rights of a
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11 person or damage to real or personal property or rights therein;
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12 9. “Medically indigent” means a person requiring medically
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13 necessary hospital or other health care services for the person or
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14 the dependents of the person who has no public or private third-
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15 party coverage, and whose personal resources are insufficient to
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16 provide for needed health care;
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17 10. “Municipality” means any incorporated city or town, and all
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18 institutions, agencies or instrumentalities of a municipality;
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19 11. “Political subdivision” means:
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20 a. a municipality,
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21 b. a school district, including, but not limited to, a
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22 technology center school district established pursuant
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23 to Section 4410, 4411, 4420 or 4420.1 of Title 70 of
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24 the Oklahoma Statutes, or a public library as defined
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 1 pursuant to Section 1-104 of Title 65 of the Oklahoma
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2 Statutes,
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3 c. a county,
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4 d. a public trust where the sole beneficiary or
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5 beneficiaries are a city, town, school district or
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6 county. For purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims
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7 Act, a public trust shall include:
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8 (1) a municipal hospital created pursuant to Sections
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9 30-101 through 30-109 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma
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10 Statutes, a county hospital created pursuant to
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11 Sections 781 through 796 of Title 19 of the
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12 Oklahoma Statutes, or is created pursuant to a
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13 joint agreement between such governing
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14 authorities, that is operated for the public
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15 benefit by a public trust created pursuant to
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16 Sections 176 through 180.4 of Title 60 of the
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17 Oklahoma Statutes and managed by a governing
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18 board appointed or elected by the municipality,
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19 county, or both, who exercises control of the
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20 hospital, subject to the approval of the
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21 governing body of the municipality, county, or
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22 both,
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23 (2) a public trust created pursuant to Sections 176
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24 through 180.4 of Title 60 of the Oklahoma
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 1 Statutes after January 1, 2009, the primary
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2 purpose of which is to own, manage, or operate a
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3 public acute care hospital in this state that
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4 serves as a teaching hospital for a medical
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5 residency program provided by a college of
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6 osteopathic medicine and provides care to
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7 indigent persons, and
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8 (3) a corporation in which all of the capital stock
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9 is owned, or a limited liability company in which
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10 all of the member interest is owned, by a public
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11 trust,
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12 e. for the purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act
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13 only, a housing authority created pursuant to the
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14 provisions of the Oklahoma Housing Authority Act,
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15 f. for the purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act
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16 only, corporations organized not for profit pursuant
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17 to the provisions of the Oklahoma General Corporation
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18 Act for the primary purpose of developing and
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19 providing rural water supply and sewage disposal
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20 fac