BILL NUMBER: AB 348 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brown
FEBRUARY 17, 2015
An act to amend Section 1420 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to long-term health care facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 348, as introduced, Brown. Long-term health care facilities.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation by the
State Department of Public Health of health care facilities,
including long-term health care facilities, as defined. Existing law
establishes procedures to be followed when the department receives a
written or oral complaint about a long-term health care facility. A
complaint is defined to mean any notice to the department, other than
a report from the facility, of an alleged violation of applicable
requirements of state or federal law or any alleged facts that might
constitute a violation.
This bill, on or before July 1, 2016, would require the department
to set a performance benchmark for completing its investigations
within a defined number of days after receiving the complaint, not to
exceed 60 working days. The bill would require the department, if it
extends an investigation beyond the number of days specified in the
benchmark, to notify the complainant, in writing, of the basis for
the extension. The bill would require, effective July 1, 2016, and
upon request of the complainant, that the department provide specific
findings concerning an alleged violation, and include a summary of
the evidence upon which the determination is based. The bill would
require the department to comply with those specified time periods
established for investigations and inspections of complaints from a
facility of an alleged violation of applicable requirements of state
or federal law or any alleged facts that may constitute an alleged
violation of these requirements. The bill would require the
department to analyze its compliance with the benchmark in its annual
system and staffing analysis, to make that analysis available to the
relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, and to
post it on the department's Internet Web site.
(2) Existing law provides the complainant with 5 business days
after receipt of the notice of the department's determination in
which to request an informal conference.
This bill would, instead, provide the complainant with 15 days
after receipt of the notice in which to request an informal
conference.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1420 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
1420. (a) (1) Upon receipt of a written or oral complaint, the
state department shall assign an inspector to make
a preliminary review of the complaint and shall notify the
complainant within two working days of the receipt of the complaint
of the name of the inspector. Unless the state
department determines that the complaint is willfully intended to
harass a licensee or is without any reasonable basis, it shall make
an onsite inspection or investigation within 10 working days of the
receipt of the complaint. In any case in which the complaint involves
a threat of imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, the
state department shall make an onsite inspection
or investigation within as soon as
practicable, and in no case more than 24 hours of the receipt
of the complaint. In any event, the complainant shall be promptly
informed of the state department's proposed course
of action and of the opportunity to accompany the inspector on the
inspection or investigation of the facility. Upon the request of
either the complainant or the state department,
the complainant or his or her representative, or both, may be allowed
to accompany the inspector to the site of the alleged violations
during his or her tour of the facility, unless the inspector
determines that the privacy of any patient would be violated thereby.
(2) When conducting an onsite inspection or investigation pursuant
to this section, the state department shall
collect and evaluate all available evidence and may issue a citation
based upon, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Observed conditions.
(B) Statements of witnesses.
(C) Facility records.
(3) On or before July 1, 2016, the department shall set a
performance benchmark for completing its investigation within a
defined number of days after receiving the complaint. The performance
benchmark may be less than, but shall not exceed, 60 working days.
(4) If the department extends an investigation beyond the number
of days specified in the performance benchmark, it shall notify the
complainant, in writing, of the basis for the extension, and shall
include in the notice the status of the investigation and the
anticipated completion date. The department shall, thereafter,
complete the investigation as expeditiously as possible.
(3)
(5) Within 10 working days of the completion of the
complaint investigation, the state department
shall notify the complainant and licensee
licensee, in writing writing, of
the department's determination as a result of the inspection or
investigation.
(6) Effective July 1, 2016, upon request of the complainant, the
department shall provide specific findings concerning an alleged
violation, and shall include a summary of the evidence upon which the
determination is made. The written determination shall not disclose
the names of individual residents.
(b) Upon being notified of the state department'
s determination as a result of the inspection or investigation, a
complainant who is dissatisfied with the state
department's determination, regarding a matter which would pose a
threat to the health, safety, security, welfare, or rights of a
resident, shall be notified by the state
department of the right to an informal conference, as set forth in
this section. The complainant may, within five business
15 days after receipt of the notice, notify the
director in writing of his or her request for an informal conference.
The informal conference shall be held with the designee of the
director for the county in which the long-term health care facility
which that is the subject of the
complaint is located. The long-term health care facility may
participate as a party in this informal conference. The director's
designee shall notify the complainant and licensee of his or her
determination within 10 working days after the informal conference
and shall apprise the complainant and licensee in writing of the
appeal rights provided in subdivision (c).
(c) If the complainant is dissatisfied with the determination of
the director's designee in the county in which the facility is
located, the complainant may, within 15 days after receipt of this
determination, notify in writing the Deputy Director of the Licensing
and Certification Division of the state
department, who shall assign the request to a representative of the
Complainant Appeals Unit for review of the facts that led to both
determinations. As a part of the Complainant Appeals Unit's
independent investigation, and at the request of the complainant, the
representative shall interview the complainant in the district
office where the complaint was initially referred. Based upon this
review, the Deputy Director of the Licensing and Certification
Division of the state department shall make his or
her own determination and notify the complainant and the facility
within 30 days.
(d) Any citation issued as a result of a conference or review
provided for in subdivision (b) or (c) shall be issued and served
upon the facility within three working days of the final
determination, unless the licensee agrees in writing to an extension
of this time. Service shall be effected either personally or by
registered or certified mail. A copy of the citation shall also be
sent to each complainant by registered or certified mail.
(e) A miniexit conference shall be held with the administrator or
his or her representative upon leaving the facility at the completion
of the investigation to inform him or her of the status of the
investigation. The department shall also state the items of
noncompliance and compliance found as a result of a complaint and
those items found to be in compliance, provided the disclosure
maintains the anonymity of the complainant. In any matter in which
there is a reasonable probability that the identity of the
complainant will not remain anonymous, the state
department shall also notify the facility that it is unlawful to
discriminate or seek retaliation against a resident, employee, or
complainant.
(f) For purposes of this section, "complaint" means any oral or
written notice to the state department, other than
a report from the facility facility,
of an alleged violation of applicable requirements of state or
federal law or any alleged facts that might constitute such
a violation. violation of these
requirements.
(g) The department shall apply the timeframes for investigation or
inspection established in this section to a report from the facility
of an alleged violation of applicable requirements of state or
federal law or any alleged facts that might constitute a violation of
those requirements.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the amendments
that added this subdivision that the department endeavor to complete
investigations of complaints within the benchmark established
pursuant to this section.
(i) The department shall analyze its compliance with the benchmark
developed pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) in its annual
system and staffing analysis prepared pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d) of Section 1266. The analysis required pursuant to
this subdivision shall be made available to the relevant fiscal and
policy committees of the Legislature and shall be posted on the
department's Internet Web site. The analysis shall provide data on
the department's performance and shall include, at a minimum, a
tabulation of all of the following:
(1) Open investigations.
(2) Completed investigations.
(3) Number and percentage of investigations that meet the
benchmark.
(4) Average length of time to complete an investigation.
(j) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to diminish the
department's authority and obligation to investigate and enforce any
alleged violation of applicable requirements of state or federal law,
or any alleged facts that might constitute a violation of applicable
requirements of state or federal law.