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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- S 0718 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC001643 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- LICENSING OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Senators Lauria, Miller, Euer, Murray, and Ujifusa |
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| 17 | 17 | | Date Introduced: March 22, 2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services |
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| 19 | 19 | | (Dept. of Health) |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. Section 23-17-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17 entitled "Licensing 1 |
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| 23 | 23 | | of Healthcare Facilities" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 23-17-12. Inspections — Nursing facilities. 3 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) The licensing agency shall make or cause to be made unannounced inspections and 4 |
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| 26 | 26 | | investigations of nursing facilities. The director shall establish by regulation criteria to determine 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | the frequency for unannounced inspections and investigation that shall include specific criteria to 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | determine the appropriate frequency of those surveys including, but not limited to, patient acuity, 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | quality indicators, staff retention, financial status, and a facility’s past compliance with the 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | regulations. In no instance shall any facility with a pattern of noncompliance with regulations or 9 |
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| 31 | 31 | | orders, indications of marginal financial status, repeated levels of nursing hours per resident 10 |
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| 32 | 32 | | significantly below the state average, or other risk factors determined to influence quality, receive 11 |
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| 33 | 33 | | less than two (2) surveys in addition to the annual licensing survey required by this chapter. Any 12 |
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| 34 | 34 | | nursing care facility which is cited for substandard care by the licensing agency shall be inspected 13 |
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| 35 | 35 | | on a bimonthly basis for the twelve (12) month period immediately following any citation. The 14 |
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| 36 | 36 | | licensing agency shall, on an annual basis, cause no less than ten percent (10%) of all nursing care 15 |
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| 37 | 37 | | facility annual surveys to be conducted, in whole or in part, on nights and/or on weekends. The 16 |
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| 38 | 38 | | inspections shall be conducted both as to profit and nonprofit facilities and the results shall be open 17 |
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| 39 | 39 | | to public inspection; however, requirements as to the fire safety code will be deferred in accordance 18 |
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| 40 | 40 | | with § 23-28.1-7. 19 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LC001643 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (b) No employee or agent of the department shall be participating in or supervising an 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | inspection of any facility to which that employee currently has, or in the past five (5) two (2) years 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | has had, any ownership, employment, or consultant arrangement or any other potential conflicts of 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | interest. The restrictions imposed under this subsection shall be in addition to, and not in place of, 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | the requirements of chapter 14 of title 36. 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (c) The licensing agency shall make or cause to be made unannounced inspections and/or 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | investigations of any establishment, facility, boarding house, dormitory, however named, to 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | determine whether the lodging facility should be licensed and regulated under the provisions of this 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | chapter. 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (d) All members of the general assembly and any general officer of this state may make 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | announced and unannounced inspections of extended care facilities, skilled nursing homes, 11 |
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| 55 | 55 | | intermediate care facilities, personal care homes, nursing homes, and state institutions. 12 |
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| 56 | 56 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 13 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ======== |
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| 58 | 58 | | LC001643 |
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| 59 | 59 | | ======== |
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| 60 | 60 | | |
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| 61 | 61 | | |
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| 62 | 62 | | LC001643 - Page 3 of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 64 | 64 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 65 | 65 | | OF |
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| 66 | 66 | | A N A C T |
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| 67 | 67 | | RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- LICENSING OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES |
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| 68 | 68 | | *** |
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| 69 | 69 | | This act would provide that no employee or agent of the department of health participate 1 |
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| 70 | 70 | | in any healthcare facility inspection if the employee or agent has, in the past two (2) years, had an 2 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ownership or employment or consultant interest in the facility. 3 |
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| 72 | 72 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ======== |
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| 74 | 74 | | LC001643 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ======== |
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