---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning the retention of hospital medical records."
description: "Concerning the retention of hospital medical records."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "SB 5239"
citation: "Washington SB 5239 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Slatter"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-14"
last_action: "2025-04-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d89d5436-a4d9-4c70-9686-054d6ec0d7e2"
source_url: "https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5239&Year=2025&Initiative=false"
source_hash: "176abd74f45b52bb411910d790047d51583436943d203f3aa620d82669ad9814"
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-wa"]
---

# Washington SB 5239 (2025-2026) — Concerning the retention of hospital medical records.

## Version chain

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

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5239.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5239-S.htm)
3. **Substitute Passed Legislature** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2025-26/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5239-S.PL.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#6) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#26) — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Slatter — primary (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Nobles — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-14** First reading, referred to Health & Long-Term Care. `reading-1`
- **2025-01-21** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM.
- **2025-01-24** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM.
- **2025-01-24** HLTC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `substitution`
- **2025-01-27** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2025-02-05** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2025-02-12** 1st substitute bill substituted (HLTC 25). `substitution`
- **2025-02-12** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2025-02-12** Third reading, passed; yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2025-02-17** First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness. `reading-1`
- **2025-03-25** Public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM.
- **2025-04-01** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM.
- **2025-04-01** HCW - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-02** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-08** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2025-04-09** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2025-04-09** Third reading, passed; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2025-04-14** President signed. `passage`
- **2025-04-15** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2025-04-17** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-04-22** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-22** Chapter 131, 2025 Laws. `became-law`
- **2025-04-22** Effective date 7/27/2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d89d5436-a4d9-4c70-9686-054d6ec0d7e2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).