Summary as Introduced
Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. Adds provisions concerning involuntary terminations of residency, hearings when residency is involuntarily terminated, and readmission of residents. Provides that an establishment shall notify a resident when the establishment's ability to meet the resident's needs may be affected. Provides that if an establishment initiates a termination of residency, then the resident shall be provided with written notice. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall (rather than may) offer assistance to an establishment and resident in preparation for a residency termination. Provides that an establishment that improperly terminates the residency of a resident shall be assessed a violation. Makes additions to provisions concerning resident rights. Makes other changes. Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Makes changes to provisions concerning the involuntary transfer or discharge of a resident, hearings when a resident is involuntarily transferred or discharged, and the readmission of residents. Provides that a resident has a right not to be unlawfully transferred or discharged from a facility. Makes other changes. Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act and the Nursing Home Care Act. Provides that in certain circumstances the Department shall order immediate readmission of a resident. Provides that failure to readmit a resident after receiving an order to do so from the Department shall result in a specified daily fine. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules related to conflicts of interest for persons who conduct specified hearings.
Staff Analysis
Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the contents of Senate Amendment No. 2 with the following changes. In the Nursing Home Care Act, provides that a facility that fails to comply with an order of the Department of Public Health to readmit a resident who wishes to return to the facility and is appropriate for that level of care and services provided, shall be assessed a $2,500 fine (rather than a fine). Provides that a facility that complies with an order of the Department to readmit a resident that has been deemed to have been unlawfully discharged shall notify the Department within 10 business days that the resident has been readmitted to the facility. Includes requirements of the notice. Also includes requirements upon readmission of such a resident and procedures should the resident whose readmission was ordered by the Department commit the same action about which the facility noted concerns. In provisions relating to specified notice that shall be placed in a resident's clinical record and shall be provided to other entities, removes a duplicate reference to the State Long Term Care Ombudsman. In provisions relating to denial of a transfer or discharge, provides that a copy of the Department's written decision stating that the transfer or discharge is denied shall be placed in the resident's medical chart.
Deletes language providing that if the Department of Public Health finds that the action was consistent with the concerns the facility stated in the notice, the Department may not impose the associated violation or fine on the facility.