BILL NUMBER: AB 1303 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hall
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 1422 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to long-term health care facilities. An
act to add Section 1254.3 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1303, as amended, Hall. Long-term health care
facilities. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital:
reopening plan: working group.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
inspect and license health facilities, as defined, including
hospitals.
This bill would require the department to convene a working group
of stakeholders to assist in the implementation of the plan to reopen
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, in the Watts/Willowbrook area
of south Los Angeles County. The bill would specify the membership of
the working group, and the issues to be considered by the group. The
bill would require the working group to prepare a report of its
findings and recommendations pursuant to the bill.
The bill would also state the findings and declarations of the
Legislature concerning the need for special legislation.
Existing law establishes various programs for the prevention of
disease and the promotion of health to be administered by the State
Department of Public Health, including, but not limited to, the
licensing and regulation of health facilities, including, but not
limited to, long-term health care facilities, as defined.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1254.3 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
1254.3. (a) The department shall convene a working group of
stakeholders, to assist in the implementation of the plan to reopen
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, located in the
Watts/Willowbrook area of south Los Angeles County.
(b) The working group shall include, but not be limited to,
representatives of the department, the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, the Regents of the University of California, with the
regents' consent, and any other parties that the department deems
necessary to facilitate the reopening plan.
(c) The working group shall review and examine issues relating to
the hospital reopening, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Clarification of the respective roles of the county and the
regents.
(2) Selection of a suitable nonprofit entity to undertake the
daily operation of the hospital, pursuant to a contract with the
University of California and the county.
(3) Securing appropriate funding, including making recommendations
to the Legislature for necessary statutory changes.
(4) Development of the hospital's teaching component.
(d) The working group shall prepare a report of its findings and
recommendations made pursuant to this section.
SEC. 2. Due to the unique circumstances concerning
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital within Los Angeles County, the
Legislature finds and declares that a general statute cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution. Therefore, this act is necessarily
applicable only to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital.
SECTION 1. Section 1422 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
1422. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the
public policy of this state to ensure that long-term health care
facilities provide the highest level of care possible. The
Legislature further finds that inspections are the most effective
means of furthering this policy. It is not the intent of the
Legislature by the amendment of subdivision (b) enacted by Chapter
1595 of the Statutes of 1982 to reduce in any way the resources
available to the state department for inspections, but rather to
provide the state department with the greatest flexibility to
concentrate its resources where they can be most effective. It is the
intent of the Legislature to create a survey process that includes
state-based survey components and that determines compliance with
federal and California requirements for certified long-term health
care facilities. It is the further intent of the Legislature to
execute this inspection in the form of a single survey process, to
the extent that this is possible and permitted under federal law. The
inability of the state to conduct a single survey in no way exempts
the state from the requirement under this section that state-based
components be inspected in long-term health care facilities as
required by law.
(b) (1) (A) Notwithstanding Section 1279 or any other provision of
law, without providing notice of these inspections, the department,
in addition to any inspections conducted pursuant to complaints filed
pursuant to Section 1419, shall conduct inspections annually, except
with regard to those facilities which have no class "AA," class "A,"
or class "B" violations in the past 12 months. The state department
shall also conduct inspections as may be necessary to ensure the
health, safety, and security of patients in long-term health care
facilities. Every facility shall be inspected at least once every two
years. The department shall vary the cycle in which inspections of
long-term health care facilities are conducted to reduce the
predictability of the inspections.
(B) Inspections and investigations of long-term health care
facilities that are certified by the Medicare Program or the Medicaid
Program shall determine compliance with federal standards and
California statutes and regulations to the extent that California
statutes and regulations provide greater protection to residents, or
are more precise than federal standards, as determined by the
department. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
department may, without taking regulatory action pursuant to the
rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code), implement, interpret, or make specific
this paragraph by means of an All Facilities Letter (AFL) or similar
instruction. Prior to issuing an AFL or similar instruction, the
department shall consult with interested parties and shall inform the
appropriate committees of the Legislature. The department shall also
post the AFL or similar instruction on its Web site so that any
person may observe which California laws and regulations provide
greater protection to its residents or are more precise than federal
standards. Nothing in this subdivision is intended to change existing
statutory or regulatory requirements governing the care provided to
long-term health care facility residents.
(C) In order to ensure maximum effectiveness of inspections
conducted pursuant to this article, the department shall identify all
state law standards for the staffing and operation of long-term
health care facilities. Costs of the additional survey and inspection
activities required by Chapter 895 of the Statutes of 2006 shall be
included as Licensing and Certification Program activities for the
purposes of calculating fees in accordance with Section 1266.
(2) The state department shall submit to the federal Department of
Health and Human Services on or before July 1, 1985, for review and
approval, a request to implement a three-year pilot program designed
to lessen the predictability of the long-term health care facility
inspection process. Two components of the pilot program shall be (A)
the elimination of the present practice of entering into a one-year
certification agreement, and (B) the conduct of segmented inspections
of a sample of facilities with poor inspection records, as defined
by the state department. At the conclusion of the pilot project, an
analysis of both components shall be conducted by the state
department to determine effectiveness in reducing inspection
predictability and the respective cost benefits. Implementation of
this pilot project is contingent upon federal approval.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), the state
department shall conduct unannounced direct patient care inspections
at least annually to inspect physician and surgeon services, nursing
services, pharmacy services, dietary services, and activity programs
of all the long-term health care facilities. Facilities evidencing
repeated serious problems in complying with this chapter or a history
of poor performance, or both, shall be subject to periodic
unannounced direct patient care inspections during the inspection
year. The direct patient care inspections shall assist the state
department in the prioritization of its efforts to correct facility
deficiencies.
(d) All long-term health care facilities shall report to the state
department any changes in the nursing home administrator or the
director of nursing services within 10 calendar days of the changes.
(e) Within 90 days after the receipt of notice of a change in the
nursing home administrator or the director of nursing services, the
state department may conduct an abbreviated inspection of the
long-term health care facilities.
(f) If a change in a nursing home administrator occurs and the
Board of Nursing Home Administrators notifies the state department
that the new administrator is on probation or has had his or her
license suspended within the previous three years, the state
department shall conduct an abbreviated survey of the long-term
health care facility employing that administrator within 90 days of
notification.