Chapter 309
2010 -- S 3022
Enacted 06/25/10
A N A C T
RELATING TO
LICENSING OF HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Introduced By: Senator C Levesque
Date Introduced: June 10, 2010
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 23-17-44 of the General Laws in Chapter
23-17 entitled "Licensing
of Health Care Facilities" is hereby amended to
read as follows:
23-17-44.
Moratorium on new initial nursing facility licensed beds and on increases
to the licensed capacity of existing nursing facility
licenses. -- (a) The licensing agency shall
issue no new initial licenses for nursing facilities prior
to July 1, 2010; provided, however, that:
(1)
Any person holding a previously issued and valid certificate of need as of
August
21, 1996 shall be permitted to effect
a prior certificate from the licensing agency consistent with
any other statutory and regulatory provisions which may
further apply;
(2)
Any person holding a nursing facility license may undertake activities to
construct
and operate a replacement nursing facility with the same
or lower bed capacity as is presently
licensed provided that the replacement facility may only be
licensed upon the otherwise
unconditional cessation of operation of the previously licensed
nursing facility;
(3)
Any certificate of need application under active review before the state agency
as of
January 10, 1996, which application seeks approval of
a proposal to establish a new nursing
facility or seeks to increase the licensed bed capacity of an
existing nursing facility shall continue
to be reviewed under all the statutory and regulatory
requirements in effect at the time the
application was accepted for review by the state agency; and
(4) On
July 1, 1999, if the statewide occupancy rate of licensed nursing facility beds
exceeds ninety-two percent (92%) for the preceding calendar
year, as determined by the
department of human services, an assisted living residence
licensed pursuant to chapter 17.4 of
this title may propose to seek nursing facility licensure
by conversion of assisted living residence
rooms within its existing physical plant; provided however,
that:
(i) The number of nursing facility beds to be licensed does not
exceed the lesser of
twenty (20) beds or ten percent (10%) of the licensed bed
capacity of the assisted living
residence;
(ii)
The capital expenditures associated with the implementation of the nursing
facility
beds does not exceed five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000);
(iii)
The nursing facility shall be limited in taking residents to those persons who
are
transferring from residency at the assisted living residence;
(iv) The application must be submitted to the health
services council on or before
October 1, 1999;
(v)
The facility must comply with all requirements of the Health Care Certificate
of
Need Act, chapter 15 of title 23.
(b)
Prior to July 1, 2010 the licensing agency shall not increase the licensed bed
capacity of any existing licensed nursing facility, including
any nursing facility approved for
change in ownership pursuant to §§ 23-17-14.3 and
23-17-14.4, to greater than the level of the
facility's licensed bed capacity as of August 21, 1996 plus the
greater of ten (10) beds or ten
percent (10%) of the licensed bed capacity. Any person
holding a previously issued and valid
certificate of need as of the date of passage of this section or
who shall subsequently be granted a
certificate of need pursuant to subsection (a) shall be permitted
to effect a prior certificate from
the licensing agency consistent with any other statutory
and regulatory provisions which may
further apply. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law
to the contrary, including any
moratorium on increasing bed capacity in nursing facilities that
may otherwise apply, the
licensing agency shall be permitted to increase the licensed
bed capacity of an existing nursing
facility by no more than the number of beds previously
licensed to one or more other licensed
nursing facilities provided that:
(1)
All nursing facilities involved in any such transaction must be located within
the
same municipality;
(2)
The owner of a licensed nursing care facility seeking to increase its licensed
bed
capacity must receive approval, following review by the health
services council, from the
licensing agency for a change in owner of the other nursing
facility or facilities;
(3) That
the nursing facility licensed bed capacity may only be increased upon the
otherwise unconditional cessation of operation of the
previously licensed other nursing facility or
facilities and the return of the license of the nursing facility
or nursing facilities to the licensing
agency; and
(4)
The licensed nursing care facility seeking to increase its licensed bed
complement
must comply with all requirements of the Health Care
Certificate of Need Act, chapter 15 of title
23.
(c) Notwithstanding
any other provision of the law to the contrary, including any
moratorium on increasing bed capacity in nursing facilities that
may otherwise apply, a nursing
facility may take out of service any or all beds of its
licensed capacity without impediment to its
right to place back into service those beds at a future
date under the same terms and conditions as
applied at the time of taking them out of service.
(d)
From July 1 of 2009 through June 30 of 2010 December 31, 2010,
notwithstanding
any other provision herein to the contrary, including any
moratorium on increasing bed capacity
in nursing facilities that may otherwise apply, a
nursing home member of a multi-facility group
may transfer its entitlement to add up to ten (10) beds
through the "ten (10) beds or ten percent
(10%) of capacity" exception provided for and in
accordance with subsection (b) hereof to
another nursing facility in the same multi-facility group,
provided that:
(1)
The beds thereby added are, in the discretion of the director of the department
of
health, designed to provide enhanced quality of life to
nursing facility residents through the
adoption of principles and building designs established by the
"
" programs or other like means;
(2)
The nursing facility applying to receive the transferred beds has fewer than
fifty
(50) licensed beds and has at
least a ninety-four percent (94%) bed occupancy rate at the time of
application to obtain said additional bed licenses;
(3)
The transferred beds provided for in this subsection (d) shall be limited to a
maximum total of ten (10) beds per multi-facility group;
(4)
The transfer of beds results in a reduction in the number of nursing facility beds
in
the state, including the beds transferred under this
authority; and
(5)
For purposes of this subsection (d), the term "multi-facility group"
shall mean two
(2) or more nursing facilities
that are affiliated, which for purposes of this subsection shall mean
two (2) or more nursing facilities that are controlled
by, in control of, or in common control with,
each other.
(e)
Nursing facility culture change joint legislative commission. There is hereby
established a joint legislative commission to make
recommendations on nursing facility culture
change and its relationship to the nursing facility bed
moratorium, the certificate of need program,
and nursing facility principles and methods of
reimbursement.
(1)
The commission shall consist of eleven (11) members, as follows:
(i) Two (2) members of the senate, one of whom shall be from
the minority party,
appointed by the senate president;
(ii) Two (2) members of the house of representatives, one of
whom shall be from the
minority party, appointed by the speaker;
(iii) Two (2) shall be representatives of the
designated by the president of the association;
(iv) Two (2) shall be representatives of the
aging, designated by the president of the association;
(v)
One shall be the director of health, or designee;
(vi) One shall be the director of human services,
or designee;
(vii)
One shall be the secretary of health and human services, or designee.
(2)
The commission shall be co-chaired by a senator and representative as appointed
by
the senate president and speaker of the house.
(3)
The commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the general
assembly on or before September 15, 2009, including
recommendations for legislative change.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02962
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