A bipartisan pair of Columbus-area lawmakers wants every Ohio emergency room and urgent-care clinic handling domestic-violence cases the same way, every time. Their proposal, the Break the Silence Act, would require hospitals and urgent-care centers to follow uniform screening and referral rules, including private interviews, detailed documentation of injuries and ready-made referral lists for shelters, counseling and legal help.
House Bill 566, sponsored by Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Township), is aimed at closing the gaps that advocates say let victims slip through in busy emergency departments. The bill is currently sitting in the House Health Committee, where testimony is expected to continue.
What the bill would require
Under HB 566, the Ohio Department of Health would craft statewide protocols for health-care workers who know or reasonably suspect that a patient is experiencing domestic violence. Those steps include identifying potential victims, interviewing them privately away from accompanying household members, documenting visible and reported injuries in the medical record and creating photographic records when possible, according to the Ohio Legislature.
The same proposal tells the department to make training available to hospitals and urgent-care staff within one year of the law taking effect. Facilities would then have 90 days to put the protocols into practice, a relatively tight window that supporters say is meant to prevent the bill from gathering dust.
Why sponsors pushed it
Supporters point to rising fatalities and stories from survivors to argue that a tougher, uniform response is overdue. The Ohio Domestic Violence Network recorded 157 intimate-partner-related fatalities between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, a 37% jump from the previous year, according to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.
During legislative testimony, survivors described how abusers can easily control what medical staff hear. One survivor, Breaunna Nooks, told lawmakers that her abuser “was always there” during medical visits, which meant she could not safely answer questions about her situation, according to reporting by the Statehouse News Bureau.
How hospitals could change
If the bill becomes law, hospitals and urgent-care clinics would likely need to overhaul intake and triage routines so that one-on-one screenings for domestic violence become standard, not an afterthought. Staff would be expected to gather more detailed medical documentation when abuse is suspected and to build or update relationships with community resources.
Facilities would also have to connect patients showing signs of abuse with local shelters, counselors, and legal advocates, an attempt to replace the current patchwork system that can offer vastly different levels of help depending on which emergency room or clinic a survivor happens to visit, as reported by Cleveland.com.
Implementation and timeline
The proposal gives hospitals and urgent-care centers 90 days after the law takes effect to adopt the new protocols. It also requires the health department, or an organization working on its behalf, to make training available statewide within one year, with the department director authorized to set rules for how often that training must occur, according to the Ohio Legislature.
Sponsors say that timeline is designed to move hospitals quickly toward a single standard of care rather than leaving domestic-violence response to internal policy debates that can drag on for months or years.
Where it stands now
House Bill 566 was introduced in November 2025 and remains before the House Health Committee. Lawmakers, advocates and medical professionals are expected to keep filing testimony as the measure works its way through hearings. For those tracking the bill’s progress, the official record lists its committee status, history and cosponsors, according to LegiScan.
Legal implications
HB 566 would be enforced through the Ohio Department of Health rulemaking and hospital licensing oversight. In other words, it would add administrative requirements for hospitals and urgent-care facilities rather than creating new criminal charges for individuals.
The bill instructs the department to fold in guidance from national medical and hospital organizations when drafting the protocols, something sponsors say should keep Ohio’s standards aligned with current clinical best practices, according to the Ohio Legislature.
If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate-partner violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting START to 88788. Local shelters and victim-advocacy organizations can also help with safety planning and legal referrals.
