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HB 5636

Health facilities: birthing centers; licensing for freestanding birth centers; provide for and require certain information to be included on a birth certificate. Amends secs. 2811, 2823, 17101, 20104, 20106 & 20161 of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.2811 et seq.) & adds secs. 2823a & 22224c & pt. 207.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Laurie Pohutsky

Creates a licensed freestanding birth center category with safety, staffing, and reporting requirements for midwifery and newborn care in Michigan.

assigned PA 252'24
#healthfacilities:birthingcenters #health:licensing #health:vitalrecords #stateagencies(existing):licensingandregulatoryaffairs
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Bill Summary · HB 5636

HB 5636 — Summary (Public Act 252 of 2024)

Status: Enacted as Public Act 252 (effective April 2, 2025). Introduced by Rep. Laurie Pohutsky. Companion: SB 156.

Main purpose

To add a new, licensable category of health facility — “freestanding birth centers” — to the Michigan Public Health Code, establish operating and safety requirements for those centers, set licensing fees, and change how the place of birth is recorded on birth certificates in certain circumstances.

Key provisions and changes

  • Creates Part 207 (Freestanding Birth Centers) in Article 17 of the Public Health Code and adds “freestanding birth center” to definitions of health facility/agency.
  • Defines “freestanding birth center” as a community-based facility (not a hospital or surgical outpatient facility) that provides midwifery care for normal deliveries, well-person reproductive and sexual health care, extended postpartum care, and newborn care within licensed providers’ scopes of practice.
  • Requires licensing by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Prohibits using the term “freestanding birth center” (or similar) for facilities not licensed under Article 17.
  • Licensing fees: $2,000 initial application fee per license; $500 annual facility license fee.
  • LARA must promulgate rules governing freestanding birth centers. (Under the bill’s substitute language, LARA was prohibited from enforcing Part 207 or rules under it until two years after the bill’s effective date.)
  • Operational and patient-safety requirements: written disclosure at intake (provider qualifications, practice philosophy, patient policies, complaint processes); notification about providers’ malpractice insurance status; continuous availability/presence of a licensed health care provider while a patient is admitted until mother and newborn are clinically stable; monitoring protocols; a follow-up/postpartum program; required personnel and equipment for basic life support, neonatal resuscitation, and initial management of postpartum complications; identification of a nearby hospital for transfer.
  • Staffing and training: at least two persons immediately available during delivery certified in Basic Life Support and neonatal resuscitation (AHA or equivalent).
  • Limitations: (excerpted) prohibits certain services (e.g., general/regional anesthesia—local anesthesia and nitrous oxide allowed); cannot be considered a hospital or freestanding surgical outpatient facility.
  • Certificate-of-need: freestanding birth centers are exempt from certificate-of-need requirements.
  • Reimbursement/workers’ compensation: bill does not require new third-party reimbursement or mandate additional workers’ compensation benefits for services at freestanding birth centers.

Vital records / place of birth

  • Adds Sec. 2823a to require that the place of birth on a birth certificate be listed as:
    • the institution if birth occurs in or en route to an institution;
    • the freestanding birth center if birth occurs in or en route to a licensed freestanding birth center;
    • “home” if birth occurs in a home.
  • These place-of-birth requirements take effect with the Act (effective April 2, 2025).

Who is affected

  • Midwives and certified nurse‑midwives, physicians and other licensed providers practicing at or contracting with freestanding birth centers.
  • Operators/owners/governing bodies who must obtain licenses and meet operational rules.
  • Expectant persons choosing birth-center care and newborns (changes to discharge and stability criteria, transfer procedures).
  • LARA (rulemaking, licensing, oversight) and vital records offices (place-of-birth reporting).
  • Hospitals that serve as identified transfer destinations.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Enacted as Public Act 252, effective April 2, 2025.
  • The Health Policy substitute (H‑2) package included a provision delaying enforcement of Part 207 and related rules for two years after the bill takes effect; the bill materials and analyses note this phased enforcement (confirm in the enacted text for final timing of licensing enforcement).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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