H-1547.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1743
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State of Washington 55th Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By Representatives Dyer, Cody, Kenney, Cooke and Blalock
Read first time 02/06/97. Referred to Committee on Health Care.
AN ACT Relating to the long-term care ombudsman program; amending RCW 43.190.030; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 43.190.030 and 1995 c 399 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
There is created the office of the state long-term care ombudsman. The department of community, trade, and economic development shall contract with a private nonprofit organization to provide long-term care ombudsman services as specified under, and consistent with, the federal older Americans act as amended, federal mandates, the goals of the state, and the needs of its citizens. The department of community, trade, and economic development shall ensure that all program and staff support necessary to enable the ombudsman to effectively protect the interests of residents, patients, and clients of all long-term care facilities is provided by the nonprofit organization that contracts to provide long-term care ombudsman services. The department of community, trade, and economic development shall adopt rules to carry out this chapter and the long-term care ombudsman provisions of the federal older Americans act, as amended, and applicable federal regulations. The long-term care ombudsman program shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) To provide services for coordinating the activities of long-term care ombudsmen throughout the state;
(2) Carry out such other activities as the department of community, trade, and economic development deems appropriate;
(3) Establish procedures consistent with RCW 43.190.110 for appropriate access by long-term care ombudsmen to long-term care facilities and patients' records, including procedures to protect the confidentiality of the records and ensure that the identity of any complainant or resident will not be disclosed without the written consent of the complainant or resident, or upon court order;
(4) Establish a state-wide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data relating to complaints and conditions in long-term care facilities for the purpose of identifying and resolving significant problems, with provision for submission of such data to the department of social and health services and to the federal department of health and human services, or its successor agency, on a regular basis; and
(5) Establish procedures to assure that any files maintained by ombudsman programs shall be disclosed only at the discretion of the ombudsman having authority over the disposition of such files, except that the identity of any complainant or resident of a long-term care facility shall not be disclosed by such ombudsman unless:
(a) Such complainant or resident, or the complainant's or resident's legal representative, consents in writing to such disclosure; or
(b) Such disclosure is required by court order.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.
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