AB 852,
as amended, Quirk. begin deleteSkilled nursing end deletebegin insertHealth end insertfacility construction, alteration, or addition: review.
Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, requires design and construction standards for hospital buildings that house patients who have less than the capacity of normally healthy persons to protect themselves. Existing law also requires that those standards specify that hospitals must be reasonably capable of providing services to the public after a disaster.
Existing law requires the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to approve or reject all plans for the construction or alteration of a hospital building. Existing law specifically requires the office, contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to establish a program for training fire and life safety officers to facilitate the timely performance of the office’s duties and responsibilities relating to the review of plans and specifications pertaining to the design and observation of construction of hospital buildings, as specified. Existing law authorizes the office to establish other training programs as necessary to ensure that a sufficient number of qualified persons are available to facilitate the timely performance of the office’s duties and responsibilities, as specified.
Existing lawbegin delete authorizedend deletebegin insert authorizesend insert the office to determine and assess an application fee not to exceed 2% of the project’s estimated construction costs for certain hospital facilities, and not to exceed 1.5% of the estimated construction costs for prescribed skilled nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities. Existing law establishes the Hospital Building Fund, requires deposit of these fees into the fund,
and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund for the purposes of administration of these provisions.
This bill would, until January 1, 2019, increase the maximum fee assessed to certain of those skilled nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities to 2% of the project’s estimated construction costs. By increasing the amounts to be deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
This bill would require OSHPD to develop, with stakeholders, and would require the Facilities Development Division of OSHPD to meet, reasonable timeframes for review and approval of skilled nursing facility and intermediate care facility construction, alteration, or addition projects, except as prescribed. The bill would require documents submitted for review to include the name and contact information of a project coordinator.begin delete The bill would require the office to designate a professional staff member to provide consultation on the review of projects
relating to skilled nursing facility
and intermediate care facility construction or alteration.end delete The bill would authorize the office to seek outside assistance through contracts with qualified professional architectural or engineering firms to meet those timeframes. The bill would authorize OSHPD to, when feasible, publish standard requirements for design concepts for use by skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities when submitting plans for new construction, renovation, or replacement. The bill wouldbegin delete requireend deletebegin insert authorizeend insert OSHPD to work with stakeholders to establish education and outreach programs directed at reducing document submission error rates and turnaround times. The bill would require OSHPD, if resources are available, to publish the timeframes and other requirements on its Internet Web site. The bill would provide that these provisions
shall be operative until January 1, 2019.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) A variety of factors have contributed to making health begin deletecare end delete
4begin insertfacility end insertconstruction costs in California among the highest in the
5nation. The costs are driven by the escalating price of raw materials,
6high demand for skilled labor, and the complexity of design, plan
7review, and approval of skilled nursing facility and intermediate
8care facility construction.
9(b) Skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities are
10
licensed healthbegin delete careend delete facilities that care for the state’s most fragile
11and vulnerable citizens.
12(c) The physical infrastructure and related systems of these
13licensed health facilities are governed by building and fire and life
14safety code requirements regulated by the Office of Statewide
15Health Planning and Development, the Office of the State Fire
16Marshal, and the State Department of Public Health.
17(d) As the industry moves to update the aging health care
18infrastructure, incorporate advances in medical technology,
19implement a modern health care delivery system, and improve
20electronic medical records systems, healthbegin delete careend deletebegin insert
facilityend insert construction
21activity will increase to unseen levels, creating additional economic
22pressure on the skilled nursing, intermediate care, and construction
23industries.
24(e) Licensed healthbegin delete careend delete facilities are required to go through a
25building application and plan check process under the jurisdiction
26of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
27(f) This process is bureaucratically efficient, but is subject to
28inherent delays impacting timely approvals of projects. Although
29the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development has
30developed internal policies that set timeframes for plan review and
31approval, these policies are targets rather than enforceable
32requirements.
P4 1(g) Improving the efficiency of healthbegin delete careend deletebegin insert facilityend insert building plan
2review and construction efforts will not only reduce the time to
3design, review, and complete facility construction, but also lower
4the cost of the project and reduce overall cost pressures on the
5health care system, allowing more resources to be directed to direct
6patient services.
7(h) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to codify the
8timeframes and due dates for completion by the Office of Statewide
9Health Planning and Development of the review of facility
10construction documents and to require the office to notify
11applicants of the anticipated date the review will be completed and
12returned to them.
Section 129788 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
14to read:
(a) For projects submitted by health facilities licensed
16pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 1250 that do not
17qualify for rapid review under Section 129880, the Facilities
18Development Division shall meet reasonable timeframes developed
19by the office, in conjunction with stakeholders, that include all of
20the following:
21(1) Preliminary review of documents submitted to the office.
22(2) First review of new projects.
23(3) Backchecks.
24(4) Amended construction documents.
25(b) Documents
submitted to the office for new construction of,
26alteration of, or addition to, health facilities licensed pursuant to
27subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 1250 shall include the name
28and contact information for an individual designated to be the
29project coordinator and shall be reviewed and approved within the
30timeframes set forth in this section.
31(c) In order to ensure consistency of application of California
32Building Code standards, the office shall designate a professional
33staff member familiar with health facilities providing skilled
34nursing care to provide consultation on the review of projects
35relating to skilled nursing facility
and intermediate care facility
36construction or alteration pursuant to this section.
37(d)
end delete
38begin insert(end insertbegin insertc)end insert In order to meet the review timeframes developed pursuant
39to this section, the office may seek outside assistance through
P5 1contracts with qualified professional architectural or engineering
2firms.
3(e)
end delete
4begin insert(end insertbegin insertd)end insert If resources are available, the office may publish standard
5requirements, when feasible, for design concepts for use by skilled
6nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities when submitting
7plans for new construction, renovation, or replacement. Design
8concepts to be considered may include, but are not limited to,
9reduction in beds; installation and use of new technology, such as
10electronic medical records; space conversion dedicated to changes
11in care delivery models; and common replacement of major
12infrastructure equipment, including roofing, HVAC, generators
13and emergency power systems, water heaters and boilers, and
14kitchen and laundry room equipment.
15(f)
end delete
16begin insert(end insertbegin inserte)end insert The officebegin delete shallend deletebegin insert mayend insert work with stakeholders to receive input
17for, or assistance with, the establishment of education and outreach
18programs directed at reducing document submission error rates
19and turnaround times. To the extent resources are available, the
20office shall publish on its Internet Web site these requirements,
21including, but not limited to, the timeframes developed pursuant
22to this section.
23(g)
end delete
24begin insert(end insertbegin insertf)end insert Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 129785, the
25maximum application filing fee for a skilled nursing or intermediate
26care facility, as defined in subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 1250,
27shall not exceed 2 percent of a project’s estimated construction
28cost.
29(h)
end delete
30begin insert(end insertbegin insertg)end insert This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
31and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
32is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
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