Chapter 041
2013 -- S 0538
Enacted 05/24/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
HEALTH AND SAFETY - LICENSING OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
Introduced By: Senator Maryellen Goodwin
Date Introduced: February 28, 2013
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, 2013 July 1, 2016; provided,
however, that: any
(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;
(b) Prior to July 1,
2013 July 1, 2016 and with the exception of the culture initiative
pursuant to section 23-17-44(3), 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 sections 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.
(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 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) (d) Culture change initiative. - 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 may increase the licensed
bed capacity of any existing
licensed nursing facility, including any nursing facility
approved for change in ownership
pursuant to sections 23-17-14.3 and 23-17-14.4, for the
purposes of nursing facility culture
change, in accordance with the following criteria and
procedures:
(i)
Culture change definitions and criteria shall be established through
regulation, to
restrict beds added under this initiative only to beds that
are designed to provide enhanced quality
of life to nursing facility residents through the
adoption of principles and building designs
established by the "
means;
(ii) Only beds taken
out-of-service due to facility closure after January 1, 2010 shall be
available for facility expansion under this culture change
initiative subsection. The total number
of beds that may be licensed to increase capacity under
this culture change initiative shall be
limited to ninety percent (90%) of the first fifty (50) beds
that are taken out-of-service, to seventy
percent (70%) of the next fifty (50) beds that are taken
out-of-service, and to fifty percent (50%)
of any additional beds taken out-of-service;
(iii) Only nursing
facilities licensed in the state are eligible to expand under the culture
change initiative;
(iv)
The department shall promulgate regulations to govern an open and
competitive
process to determine the licensure of expansion beds under
this culture change initiative, and
shall consider the impact on the regional distribution of,
and access to, nursing facility beds in the
state;
(v) Any facility
seeking to expand their licensed bed capacity under this initiative, that
will result in an expenditure that meets or exceeds the
criteria for determination of need review
under chapter 23-15, shall be required to receive approval
under chapter 23-15.
(vi)
On or before March 15, 2012, the department shall gather
information from the
department of human services and shall report to the president
of the senate and the speaker of the
house of representatives on the costs and benefits to the
state of this culture change initiative,
including recommendations for revision or termination of the
initiative.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00994
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