Section 17-338. Medical records

a. Definitions.
    1.  The  term  "patient" shall mean any person who is receiving or has
  received medical attention from a medical facility.
    2. The term "medical facility" shall mean a proprietary  or  voluntary
  hospital within New York city.
    3.  The  term  "operator"  shall  mean  an independent business entity
  located within the city of New York, whose function it  is  to  properly
  maintain  and  store patients' medical records upon a medical facility's
  discontinuance of operation. The term "operator" shall  not  include  an
  article twenty-eight facility.
    4.  The  term  "article  twenty-eight  facility"  shall mean a medical
  facility issued an  operating  certificate  of  approval  under  article
  twenty-eight of the public health law.
    5.  The  terms  "trustee" or "administrator" shall mean the person who
  supervises the general administrative activities of a medical facility.
    b. If pursuant to a plan approved by the state, the medical records of
  a closing medical facility are to be transferred to  an  operator,  that
  operator  shall  be  licensed  as  provided  in  section  17-339 of this
  subchapter.
    c. The medical records shall be released pursuant to law.
    d. The department may  set  reasonable  fees  to  be  charged  by  the
  licensed operator.
    e.  The  commissioner shall promulgate regulations as deemed necessary
  for the proper  implementation  and  enforcement  of  this  section  and
  section 17-339 of this subchapter.