PRINTER'S NO. 235
No. 193 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY KASUNIC, COSTA, KITCHEN, C. WILLIAMS, RAFFERTY, TARTAGLIONE, FONTANA, WOZNIAK, LOGAN, BROWNE, STACK, BOSCOLA, STOUT, MUSTO AND FERLO, MARCH 7, 2007
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, MARCH 7, 2007
AN ACT 1 Amending the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), entitled "An 2 act relating to health care; prescribing the powers and 3 duties of the Department of Health; establishing and 4 providing the powers and duties of the State Health 5 Coordinating Council, health systems agencies and Health Care 6 Policy Board in the Department of Health, and State Health 7 Facility Hearing Board in the Department of Justice; 8 providing for certification of need of health care providers 9 and prescribing penalties," further providing for 10 administration by Department of Health. 11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 12 hereby enacts as follows: 13 Section 1. Section 804 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, 14 No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act, amended 15 December 18, 1992 (P.L.1602, No.179), is amended to read: 16 Section 804. Administration. 17 (a) Discrimination prohibited.--Except as otherwise provided 18 by law, no provider shall discriminate in the operation of a 19 health care facility on the basis of race, creed, sex or 20 national origin. 21 (b) Prevention of duplication.--In carrying out the
1 provisions of this chapter and other statutes of this 2 Commonwealth relating to health care facilities, the department 3 and other departments and agencies of the State and local 4 governments shall make every reasonable effort to prevent 5 duplication of inspections and examinations. The department may 6 make the dates of licensure expiration coincide with medical 7 assistance and Medicare certification or applicable nationally 8 recognized accrediting agencies accreditation and shall combine 9 these surveys and inspections where practical. 10 (c) Health care innovation.--The department shall administer 11 this chapter so as to encourage innovation and experimentation 12 in health care and health care facilities consistent with the 13 provisions of this chapter and shall encourage contributions of 14 private funds and services to health care facilities. 15 (d) Reports.-- 16 (1) The department shall report annually to the General 17 Assembly on the effectiveness of the licensing and 18 enforcement of this chapter. [Such report shall include 19 appropriate data according to nature of facility relating to 20 provisional licenses issued, nature of violations of 21 regulations and number of facilities against which sanctions 22 had to be taken.] The report shall include: 23 (i) the total number of facilities licensed in this 24 Commonwealth; 25 (ii) the number of facilities inspected during the 26 preceding year; 27 (iii) the number of residents occupying the 28 facilities; 29 (iv) the number of new licenses issued in the 30 previous year; 20070S0193B0235 - 2 -
1 (v) the number of facilities cited for violations of 2 law or regulation; 3 (vi) the total number of violations found by the 4 department; 5 (vii) a numerical breakdown of the violations 6 according to type, scope and nature; 7 (viii) the number of facilities sanctioned, 8 including: 9 (A) the number of facilities fined; 10 (B) the total amount of fines collected and 11 expended; 12 (C) the number of facilities issued provisional 13 licenses; 14 (D) the number of facilities where admissions 15 were suspended or banned; 16 (E) the number of facilities where temporary 17 management was appointed; 18 (F) the number of facilities closed for 19 deficiencies posing an immediate and serious threat 20 to the health or safety of the patients or residents; 21 (G) the reasons for the sanctions; 22 (H) whether the sanctions were amended or waived 23 by the department; and 24 (I) the reasons for the amendment or waiver; 25 (ix) an overview of the department's complaint 26 resolution system, including: 27 (A) the number of patient care complaints 28 received by the department according to severity; 29 (B) the number of complaint investigations 30 initiated within the time periods prescribed by the 20070S0193B0235 - 3 -
1 department; and 2 (C) the number of complaint investigations that 3 failed to be initiated within the time periods 4 prescribed by the department; and 5 (x) any other information the department deems 6 pertinent. 7 (2) The department's initial report shall cover calendar 8 year 2006 and shall be submitted to the General Assembly 9 within 30 days of the effective date of this subsection. The 10 department shall issue an annual report each year thereafter 11 which shall be submitted to the General Assembly not later 12 than January 30 of the year following the year covered in the 13 report. 14 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately. L12L35JS/20070S0193B0235 - 4 -