---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OFFICE OF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Adds the multi-disciplinary maternal mortality review committee to the review of the office of state medical examiners and extend certain immunities and confidentiality agreements to multi-disciplinary teams.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OFFICE OF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Adds the multi-disciplinary maternal mortality review committee to the review of the office of state medical examiners and extend certain immunities and confidentiality agreements to multi-disciplinary teams.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5543"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5543 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Dept. of Health", "Health & Safety"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Almeida", "Alzate", "Diaz", "Shanley", "Williams"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 20
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-02-27"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/99845103-d8f7-4d22-a447-d150ac4be68a"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "784528898d80a09e8bbd12b121e5bb853cafaba846700531659e64db5ca64715"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5543 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OFFICE OF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Adds the multi-disciplinary maternal mortality review committee to the review of the office of state medical examiners and extend certain immunities and confidentiality agreements to multi-disciplinary teams.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5543 SUB B** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5543B.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **64–3** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **63–0** (pass) · lower
- AS AMENDED — **65–0** (pass) · lower
- AS AMENDED — **58–7** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Almeida — primary (person)
- Alzate — primary (person)
- Diaz — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)
- Williams — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-27** 02/27/2019 Introduced, referred to House H.E.W. `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-29** 03/29/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/03/2019)
- **2019-04-03** 04/03/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-10** 05/10/2019 Scheduled for consideration (05/15/2019)
- **2019-05-10** 05/10/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-05-15** 05/15/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-24** 05/24/2019 Placed on House Calendar (05/28/2019)
- **2019-05-28** 05/28/2019 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2019-05-30** 05/30/2019 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-31** 05/31/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/04/2019)
- **2019-06-04** 06/04/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2019)
- **2019-06-17** 06/17/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub B `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Senate passed Sub B `passage`
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/27/2019)
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 House passed Sub B in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-07-03** 07/03/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-08** 07/08/2019 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/99845103-d8f7-4d22-a447-d150ac4be68a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).