Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

     Purpose: The department is amending these rules to be consistent with federal regulations and newly passed state laws: SHB 2056, relating to assisted living facilities; SHB [ESSB] 5708, relating to reshaping the delivery of long-term care services; 20 United States Code 1140 ("Rosa's law"); 42 Code of Federal Regulations 483.20(d); and Social Security Act section 1128I(h) as added by section 6113 of the Affordable Care Act.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-97-0001, 388-97-0040, 388-97-1000, 388-97-1620, 388-97-1640, 388-97-2020, and 388-97-2180.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 12-23-058 on November 19, 2012.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 4, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 3, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 7, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: January 31, 2013.

Katherine I. Vasquez

Rules Coordinator

     "Abuse" means the willful action or inaction that inflicts injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment of a vulnerable adult. In instances of abuse of a vulnerable adult who is unable to express or demonstrate physical harm, pain or mental anguish, the abuse is presumed to cause physical harm, pain, or mental anguish. Abuse includes sexual abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, which have the following meanings:

     (1) "Mental abuse" means any willful action or inaction of mental or verbal abuse. Mental abuse includes, but is not limited to, coercion, harassment, inappropriately isolating a resident from family, friends, or regular activity, and verbal assault that includes ridiculing, intimidating, yelling, or swearing.

     (2) "Physical abuse" means the willful action of inflicting bodily injury or physical mistreatment. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to, striking with or without an object, slapping, pinching, choking, kicking, shoving, prodding, or restraints including chemical restraints, unless the restraint is consistent with licensing requirements.

     (3) "Sexual abuse" means any form of nonconsensual sexual contact, including, but not limited to, unwanted or inappropriate touching, rape, sodomy, sexual coercion, sexually explicit photographing, and sexual harassment. Sexual contact may include interactions that do not involve touching, including but not limited to sending a resident sexually explicit messages, or cuing or encouraging a resident to perform sexual acts. Sexual abuse includes any sexual contact between a staff person and a resident, whether or not it is consensual.

     (4) "Exploitation" means an act of forcing, compelling, or exerting undue influence over a resident causing the resident to act in a way that is inconsistent with relevant past behavior, or causing the resident to perform services for the benefit of another.

     "Administrative hearing" is a formal hearing proceeding before a state administrative law judge that gives:

     (1) A licensee an opportunity to be heard in disputes about licensing actions, including the imposition of remedies, taken by the department; or

     (2) An individual an opportunity to appeal a finding of abandonment, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation of a resident, or misappropriation of a resident's funds.

     "Administrative law judge (ALJ)" means an impartial decision-maker who presides over an administrative hearing. ALJs are employed by the office of administrative hearings (OAH), which is a separate state agency. ALJs are not DSHS employees or DSHS representatives.

     "Administrator" means a nursing home administrator, licensed under chapter 18.52 RCW, who must be in active administrative charge of the nursing home, as that term is defined in the board of nursing home administrator's regulations.

     "Advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP)" means an individual who is licensed to practice as an advanced registered nurse practitioner under chapter 18.79 RCW.

     "Applicant" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity seeking a license to operate a nursing home.

     "ASHRAE" means the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc.

     "Attending physician" means the doctor responsible for a particular individual's total medical care.

     "Berm" means a bank of earth piled against a wall.

     "Chemical restraint" means a psychopharmacologic drug that is used for discipline or convenience and is not required to treat the resident's medical symptoms.

     "Civil adjudication proceeding" means judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding that results in a finding of, or upholds an agency finding of, domestic violence, abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, violation of a professional licensing standard regarding a child or vulnerable adult, or exploitation or financial exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult under any provision of law, including but not limited to chapter 13.34, 26.44, or 74.34 RCW, or rules adopted under chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW. "Civil adjudication proceeding" also includes judicial or administrative findings that become final due to the failure of the alleged perpetrator to timely exercise a legal right to administratively challenge such findings.

     "Civil fine" is a civil monetary penalty assessed against a nursing home as authorized by chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW. There are two types of civil fines, "per day" and "per instance."

     (1) "Per day fine" means a fine imposed for each day that a nursing home is out of compliance with a specific requirement. Per day fines are assessed in accordance with WAC 388-97-4580(1); and

     (2) "Per instance fine" means a fine imposed for the occurrence of a deficiency.

     "Condition on a license" means that the department has imposed certain requirements on a license and the licensee cannot operate the nursing home unless the requirements are observed.

     "Deficiency" is a nursing home's failed practice, action or inaction that violates any or all of the following:

     (1) Requirements of chapters 18.51 or 74.42 RCW, or the requirements of this chapter; and

     (2) In the case of a medicare and medicaid contractor, participation requirements under Title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act and federal medicare and medicaid regulations.

     "Deficiency citation" or "cited deficiency" means written documentation by the department that describes a nursing home's deficiency(ies); the requirement that the deficiency(ies) violates; and the reasons for the determination of noncompliance.

     "Deficient facility practice" or "failed facility practice" means the nursing home action(s), error(s), or lack of action(s) that provide the basis for the deficiency.

     "Dementia care" means a therapeutic modality or modalities designed specifically for the care of persons with dementia.

     "Denial of payment for new admissions" is an action imposed on a nursing home (facility) by the department that prohibits payment for new medicaid admissions to the nursing home after a specified date. Nursing homes certified to provide medicare and medicaid services may also be subjected to a denial of payment for new admissions by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

     "Department" means the state department of social and health services (DSHS).

     "Department on-site monitoring" means an optional remedy of on-site visits to a nursing home by department staff according to department guidelines for the purpose of monitoring resident care or services or both.

     "Dietitian" means a qualified dietitian. A qualified dietitian is one who is registered by the American Dietetic Association or certified by the state of Washington.

     "Disclosure statement" means a signed statement by an individual in accordance with the requirements under RCW 43.43.834. The statement should include a disclosure of whether or not the individual has been convicted of certain crimes or has been found by any court, state licensing board, disciplinary board, or protection proceeding to have neglected, sexually abused, financially exploited, or physically abused any minor or adult individual.

     "Drug" means a substance:

     (1) Recognized as a drug in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, Official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, Official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; or

     (2) Intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

     "Drug facility" means a room or area designed and equipped for drug storage and the preparation of drugs for administration.

     "Emergency closure" is an order by the department to immediately close a nursing home.

     "Emergency transfer" means immediate transfer of residents from a nursing home to safe settings.

     "Entity" means any type of firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association.

     "Financial exploitation" means the illegal or improper use, control over, or withholding of the property, income, resources, or trust funds of the vulnerable adult by any person or entity for any person or entity's profit or advantage other than the vulnerable adult's profit or advantage. Some examples of financial exploitation are given in RCW 74.34.020(6).

     "Habilitative services" means the planned interventions and procedures which constitute a continuing and comprehensive effort to teach an individual previously undeveloped skills.

     "Highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being" means providing each resident with the necessary individualized care and services to assist the resident to achieve or maintain the highest possible health, functional and independence level in accordance with the resident's comprehensive assessment and plan of care. Care and services provided by the nursing home must be consistent with all requirements in this chapter, chapters 74.42 and 18.51 RCW, and the resident's informed choices. For medicaid and medicare residents, care and services must also be consistent with Title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act and federal medicare and medicaid regulations.

     "Informal department review" is a dispute resolution process that provides an opportunity for the licensee or administrator to informally present information to a department representative about disputed, cited deficiencies. Refer to WAC 388-97-4420.

     "Inspection" or "survey" means the process by which department staff evaluates the nursing home licensee's compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.

     "Intermediate care facility for ((the mentally retarded (ICF/MR))) individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IID)" means an institution certified under chapter 42 C.F.R., Part 483, Subpart I, and licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW.

     "License revocation" is an action taken by the department to cancel a nursing home license in accordance with RCW 18.51.060 and WAC 388-97-4220.

     "License suspension" is an action taken by the department to temporarily revoke a nursing home license in accordance with RCW 18.51.060 and this chapter.

     "Licensee" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity licensed to operate a nursing home.

     "Licensed practical nurse" means an individual licensed to practice as a licensed practical nurse under chapter 18.79 RCW;

     "Mandated reporter" as used in this chapter means any employee of a nursing home, any health care provider subject to chapter 18.130 RCW, the Uniform Disciplinary Act, and any licensee or operator of a nursing home. Under RCW 74.34.020, mandated reporters also include any employee of the department of social and health services, law enforcement officers, social workers, professional school personnel, individual providers, employees and licensees of ((boarding home)) assisted living facility, adult family homes, soldiers' homes, residential habilitation centers, or any other facility licensed by the department, employees of social service, welfare, mental health, adult day health, adult day care, home health, home care, or hospice agencies, county coroners or medical examiners, or Christian Science practitioners.

     "Misappropriation of resident property" means the deliberate misplacement, exploitation, or wrongful, temporary or permanent use of a resident's belongings or money.

     "NFPA" means National Fire Protection Association, Inc.

     "Neglect":

     (1) In a nursing home licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW, neglect means that an individual or entity with a duty of care for nursing home residents has:

     (a) By a pattern of conduct or inaction, failed to provide goods and services to maintain physical or mental health or to avoid or prevent physical or mental harm or pain to a resident; or

     (b) By an act or omission, demonstrated a serious disregard of consequences of such magnitude as to constitute a clear and present danger to the resident's health, welfare, or safety.

     (2) In a skilled nursing facility or nursing facility, neglect also means a failure to provide a resident with the goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness.

     "Noncompliance" means a state of being out of compliance with state and/or federal requirements for nursing homes/facilities.

     "Nursing assistant" means a nursing assistant as defined under RCW 18.88A.020 or successor laws.

     "Nursing facility (NF)" or "medicaid-certified nursing facility" means a nursing home, or any portion of a hospital, veterans' home, or residential habilitation center, that is certified to provide nursing services to medicaid recipients under Section 1919(a) of the federal Social Security Act. All beds in a nursing facility are certified to provide medicaid services, even though one or more of the beds are also certified to provide medicare skilled nursing facility services.

     "Nursing home" means any facility licensed to operate under chapter 18.51 RCW.

     "Officer" means an individual serving as an officer of a corporation.

     "Owner of five percent or more of the assets of a nursing home" means:

     (1) The individual, and if applicable, the individual's spouse, who operates, or is applying to operate, the nursing home as a sole proprietorship;

     (2) In the case of a corporation, the owner of at least five percent of the shares or capital stock of the corporation; or

     (3) In the case of other types of business entities, the owner of a beneficial interest in at least five percent of the capital assets of an entity.

     "Partner" means an individual in a partnership owning or operating a nursing home.

     "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association or joint stock association.

     "Pharmacist" means an individual licensed by the Washington state board of pharmacy under chapter 18.64 RCW.

     "Pharmacy" means a place licensed under chapter 18.64 RCW where the practice of pharmacy is conducted.

     "Physical restraint" means any manual method or physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to the resident's body that the resident cannot remove easily, and which restricts freedom of movement or access to the resident's body.

     "Physician's assistant (PA)" means a physician's assistant as defined under chapter 18.57A or 18.71A RCW or successor laws.

     "Plan of correction" is a nursing home's written response to cited deficiencies that explains how it will correct the deficiencies and how it will prevent their reoccurrence.

     "Reasonable accommodation" and "reasonably accommodate" has the meaning given in federal and state antidiscrimination laws and regulations. For the purpose of this chapter:

     (1) Reasonable accommodation means that the nursing home must:

     (a) Not impose admission criteria that excludes individuals unless the criteria is necessary for the provision of nursing home services;

     (b) Make reasonable modification to its policies, practices or procedures if the modifications are necessary to accommodate the needs of the resident;

     (c) Provide additional aids and services to the resident.

     (2) Reasonable accommodations are not required if:

     (a) The resident or individual applying for admission presents a significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated by the reasonable accommodation;

     (b) The reasonable accommodations would fundamentally alter the nature of the services provided by the nursing home; or

     (c) The reasonable accommodations would cause an undue burden, meaning a significant financial or administrative burden.

     "Receivership" is established by a court action and results in the removal of a nursing home's current licensee and the appointment of a substitute licensee to temporarily operate the nursing home.

     "Recurring deficiency" means a deficiency that was cited by the department, corrected by the nursing home, and then cited again within fifteen months of the initial deficiency citation.

     "Registered nurse" means an individual licensed to practice as a registered nurse under chapter 18.79 RCW.

     "Rehabilitative services" means the planned interventions and procedures which constitute a continuing and comprehensive effort to restore an individual to the individual's former functional and environmental status, or alternatively, to maintain or maximize remaining function.

     "Resident" generally means an individual residing in a nursing home. Except as specified elsewhere in this chapter, for decision-making purposes, the term "resident" includes the resident's surrogate decision maker acting under state law. The term resident excludes outpatients and individuals receiving adult day or night care, or respite care.

     "Resident care unit" means a functionally separate unit including resident rooms, toilets, bathing facilities, and basic service facilities.

     "Respiratory isolation" is a technique or techniques instituted to prevent the transmission of pathogenic organisms by means of droplets and droplet nuclei coughed, sneezed, or breathed into the environment.

     "Siphon jet clinic service sink" means a plumbing fixture of adequate size and proper design for waste disposal with siphon jet or similar action sufficient to flush solid matter of at least two and one-eighth inches in diameter.

     "Skilled nursing facility (SNF)" or "medicare-certified skilled nursing facility" means a nursing home, a portion of a nursing home, or a long-term care wing or unit of a hospital that has been certified to provide nursing services to medicare recipients under Section 1819(a) of the federal Social Security Act.

     "Social/therapeutic leave" means leave which is for the resident's social, emotional, or psychological well-being; it does not include medical leave.

     "Staff work station" means a location at which nursing and other staff perform charting and related activities throughout the day.

     "Stop placement" or "stop placement order" is an action taken by the department prohibiting nursing home admissions, readmissions, and transfers of patients into the nursing home from the outside.

     "Substantial compliance" means the nursing home has no deficiencies higher than severity level 1 as described in WAC 388-97-4500, or for medicaid certified facility, no deficiencies higher than a scope and severity "C."

     "Surrogate decision maker" means a resident representative or representatives as outlined in WAC 388-97-0240, and as authorized by RCW 7.70.065.

     "Survey" means the same as "inspection" as defined in this section.

     "Temporary manager" means an individual or entity appointed by the department to oversee the operation of the nursing home to ensure the health and safety of its residents, pending correction of deficiencies or closure of the facility.

     "Termination" means an action taken by:

     (1) The department, or the nursing home, to cancel a nursing home's medicaid certification and contract; or

     (2) The department of health and human services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or the nursing home, to cancel a nursing home's provider agreement to provide services to medicaid or medicare recipients, or both.

     "Toilet room" means a room containing at least one toilet fixture.

     "Uncorrected deficiency" is a deficiency that has been cited by the department and that is not corrected by the licensee by the time the department does a revisit.

     "Violation" means the same as "deficiency" as defined in this section.

     "Volunteer" means an individual who is a regularly scheduled individual not receiving payment for services and having unsupervised access to a nursing home resident.

     "Vulnerable adult" includes a person:

     (1) Sixty years of age or older who has the functional, mental, or physical inability to care for himself or herself; or

     (2) Found incapacitated under chapter 11.88 RCW; or

     (3) Who has a developmental disability as defined under RCW 71A.10.020; or

     (4) Admitted to any facility, including any ((boarding home)) assisted living facility; or

     (5) Receiving services from home health, hospice, or home care agencies licensed or required to be licensed under chapter 70.127 RCW; or

     (6) Receiving services from an individual provider; or

     (7) With a functional disability who lives in his or her own home, who is directing and supervising a paid personal aide to perform a health care task as authorized by RCW 74.39.050.

     "Whistle blower" means a resident, employee of a nursing home, or any person licensed under Title 18 RCW, who in good faith reports alleged abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, or neglect to the department, the department of health or to a law enforcement agency.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW. 11-22-077, § 388-97-0001, filed 11/1/11, effective 12/2/11; 10-02-021, § 388-97-0001, filed 12/29/09, effective 1/29/10. Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-0001, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (2) A nursing facility must not require or request:

     (a) Residents or potential residents to waive their rights to medicare or medicaid;

     (b) Oral or written assurance that residents or potential residents are not eligible for, or will not apply for medicare or medicaid benefits; and

     (c) A third party guarantee of payment to the facility as a condition of admission or expedited admission, or continued stay in the facility. However, the facility may require an individual who has legal access to a resident's income or resources available to pay for facility care to sign a contract, without incurring personal financial liability, to provide facility payment from the resident's income or resources.

     (3) A nursing facility must inform, in writing, a prospective resident, and where applicable, the resident's representative, before or at the time of admission, that a third party may not be required or requested to personally guarantee payment to the nursing home, as specified in subsection (2)(c) of this section.

     (4) A nursing facility must readmit a resident, who has been hospitalized or on therapeutic leave, immediately to the first available bed in a semiprivate room if the resident:

     (a) Requires the services provided by the facility; and

     (b) Is eligible for medicaid nursing facility services.

     (5) A nursing facility must not:

     (a) Deny or delay admission or readmission of an individual to the facility because of the individual's status as a medicaid recipient;

     (b) Transfer a resident, except from a single room to another room within the facility, because of the resident's status as a medicaid recipient;

     (c) Discharge a resident from a facility because of the resident's status as a medicaid recipient; or

     (d) Charge medicaid recipients any amounts in excess of the medicaid rate from the date of eligibility, except for any supplementation that may be permitted by department regulation.

     (6) A nursing facility must maintain only one list of names of individuals seeking admission to the facility, which is ordered by the date of request for admission, and must:

     (a) Offer admission to individuals in the order they appear on the list, except as provided in subsection (7), as long as the facility can meet the needs of the individual with available staff or through the provision of reasonable accommodations required by state or federal laws;

     (b) Retain the list of individuals seeking admission for one year from the month admission was requested; and

     (c) Offer admission to the portions of the facility certified under medicare and medicaid without discrimination against persons eligible for medicaid, except as provided in subsection (7).

     (7) A nursing facility is permitted to give preferential admission to individuals who seek admission from ((a boarding home)) an assisted living facility, licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW, or from independent retirement housing, if:

     (a) The nursing facility is owned by the same entity that owns the ((boarding home)) assisted living facility or independent housing; and

     (b) They are located within the same proximate geographic area; and

     (c) The purpose of the preferential admission is to allow continued provision of culturally or faith-based services, or services provided by a continuing care retirement community as defined in RCW 74.38.025.

     (8) A nursing facility must develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure nondiscrimination in accordance with this section and RCW 74.42.055.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-0040, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (a) Provide resident care based on a systematic, comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment, and care planning process in which the resident participates, to the fullest extent possible;

     (b) Conduct initially and periodically a comprehensive, accurate, standardized, reproducible assessment of each resident's functional capacity;

     (c) At the time each resident is admitted:

     (i) Have physician's orders for the resident's immediate care; and

     (ii) Ensure that the resident's immediate care needs are identified in an admission assessment.

     (d) Ensure that the comprehensive assessment of a resident's needs describes the resident's capability to perform daily life functions and significant impairments in functional capacity.

     (2) The comprehensive assessment must include at least the following information:

     (a) Identification and demographic information;

     (b) Customary routine;

     (c) Cognitive patterns;

     (d) Communication;

     (e) Vision;

     (f) Mood and behavior patterns;

     (g) Psychosocial well-being;

     (h) Physical functioning and structural problems;

     (i) Continence;

     (j) Disease diagnosis and health conditions;

     (k) Dental and nutritional status;

     (l) Skin conditions;

     (m) Activity pursuit;

     (n) Medications;

     (o) Special treatments and procedures;

     (p) Discharge potential;

     (q) Documentation of summary information regarding the assessment performed; and

     (r) Documentation of participation in assessment.

     (3) The nursing home must conduct comprehensive assessments:

     (a) No later than fourteen days after the date of admission;

     (b) Promptly after a significant change in the resident's physical or mental condition; and

     (c) In no case less often than once every twelve months.

     (4) The nursing home must ensure that:

     (a) Each resident is assessed no less than once every three months, and as appropriate, the resident's assessment is revised to assure the continued accuracy of the assessment; and

     (b) The results of the assessment are used to develop, review and revise the resident's comprehensive plan of care under WAC 388-97-1020.

     (5) The skilled nursing facility and nursing facility must:

     (a) For the required assessment, complete the state approved resident assessment instrument (RAI) for each resident in accordance with federal requirements;

     (b) ((Place)) Maintain electronic or paper copies of ((the completed state approved RAI in each resident's clinical record, unless all charting is computerized)) completed resident assessments in the resident's active medical record for fifteen months; this information must be maintained in a centralized location and be easily and readily accessible;

     (c) ((Maintain all copies of resident assessments completed within the resident's active clinical record for fifteen months)) Place the hard copies of the signature pages in the clinical record of each resident if a facility maintains their RAI data electronically and does not use electronic signatures;

     (d) Assess each resident not less than every three months, using the state approved assessment instrument; and

     (e) Transmit all state and federally required RAI information for each resident to the department:

     (i) In a manner approved by the department;

     (ii) Within ten days of completion of any RAI assessment required under this subsection; and

     (iii) Within ten days of discharging or ((readmitting a resident)) admitting a resident for a tracking record.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-1000, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (2) The nursing home must:

     (a) Be licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW;

     (b) Operate and provide services in compliance with:

     (i) All applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations, and codes;

     (ii) Accepted professional standards and principles that apply to professionals providing services in nursing homes; and

     (c) Have a governing body or designated individuals functioning as a governing body, that is legally responsible for establishing and implementing policies regarding the management and operation of the nursing home.

     (3) The governing body of the nursing home must appoint the administrator who:

     (a) Is licensed by the state;

     (b) Is responsible for management of the nursing home;

     (c) Keeps the licensee informed of all surveys and notices of noncompliance;

     (d) Complies with all requirements of chapter 18.52 RCW, and all regulations adopted under that chapter;

     (e) Is an on-site, full-time individual in active administrative charge at the premises of only one nursing home, a minimum of four days and an average of forty hours per week((. Exception: On-site, full-time administrator with small resident populations or in rural areas will be defined as an individual in active administrative charge at the premises of only one nursing home:

     (i) A minimum of four days and an average of twenty hours per week at facilities with one to thirty beds; or

     (ii) A minimum of four days and an average of thirty hours per week at facilities with thirty-one to forty-nine beds)) except as provided in WAC 246-843-010.

     (4) Nursing homes temporarily without an administrator may operate up to four continuous weeks under a responsible individual authorized to act as nursing home administrator designee.

     (a) The designee must be qualified by experience to assume designated duties; and

     (b) The nursing home must have a written agreement with a nursing home administrator, licensed in the state of Washington, who must be readily available to consult with the designee.

     (c) The nursing home may make a written request to the department's designated aging and disability services administration field office for an extension of the four weeks by stating why an extension is needed, how a resident's safety or well-being is maintained during an extension and giving the estimated date by which a full-time, qualified nursing home administrator will be on-site.

     (5) The nursing home must employ on a full-time, part time or consultant basis those professionals necessary to carry out the requirements of this chapter.

     (6) If the nursing home does not employ a qualified professional individual to furnish a specific service to be provided by the nursing home, the nursing home must:

     (a) Have that service furnished to residents by an individual or agency outside the nursing home under a written arrangement or agreement; and

     (b) Ensure the arrangement or agreement referred to in (a) of this subsection specifies in writing that the nursing home assumes responsibility for:

     (i) Obtaining services that meet professional standards and principles that apply to professionals providing services in nursing homes; and

     (ii) The timeliness of services.

     (7) The nursing home must:

     (a) Report to the local law enforcement agency and the department any individual threatening bodily harm or causing a disturbance which threatens any individual's welfare and safety;

     (b) Identify, investigate, and report incidents involving residents, according to department established nursing home guidelines; and

     (c) Comply with "whistle blower" rules as defined in chapter 74.34 RCW.

     (8) The department will:

     (a) Investigate complaints, made to the department according to established protocols including protocols described in RCW 74.39A.060;

     (b) Take action against a nursing home that is found to have used retaliatory treatment toward a resident or employee who has voiced grievances to nursing home staff or administration, or lodged a good faith complaint with the department; and

     (c) Report to local law enforcement:

     (i) Any mandated reporter that knowingly fails to report in accordance with WAC 388-97-0640; and

     (ii) Any person that intentionally, maliciously or in bad faith makes a false report of alleged abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, or neglect of a vulnerable adult.

     (9) Refer also to WAC 388-97-1840, Retaliation.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-1620, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (a) Any allegations of resident abandonment, abuse, or neglect, including substantial injuries of an unknown source, financial exploitation and misappropriation of a resident's property;

     (b) Any unusual event, having an actual or potential negative impact on residents, requiring the actual or potential implementation of the nursing home's disaster plan. These unusual events include but are not limited to those listed under WAC 388-97-1740 (1)(a) through (k), and could include the evacuation of all or part of the residents to another area of the nursing home or to another address; and

     (c) Circumstances which threaten the nursing home's ability to ensure continuation of services to residents.

     (2) Mandated reporters must notify the department and law enforcement as directed in WAC 388-97-0640, and according to department established nursing home guidelines.

     (3) The nursing home must notify the department's aging and disability services administration of:

     (a) Physical plant changes, including but not limited to:

     (i) New construction;

     (ii) Proposed resident area or room use change;

     (iii) Resident room number changes; and

     (iv) Proposed bed banking.

     (b) Mechanical failure of equipment important to the everyday functioning of the nursing home, which cannot be repaired within a reasonable time frame, such as an elevator; and

     (c) An actual or proposed change of ownership (CHOW).

     (4) The nursing home must notify, in writing, the department's aging and disability services administration and each resident, of a loss of, or change in, the nursing home's administrator or director of nursing services at the time the loss or change occurs.

     (5) The nursing home licensee must notify the department's aging and disability services administration in writing of any change in the name of the licensee, or of the nursing home, at the time the change occurs.

     (6) If a licensee operates in a building it does not own, the licensee must immediately notify the department of the occurrence of any event of default under the terms of the lease, or if it receives verbal or written notice that the lease agreement will be terminated, or that the lease agreement will not be renewed.

     (7) The nursing home must report any case or suspected case of a reportable disease to the appropriate department of health officer and must also notify the appropriate department(s) of other health and safety issues, according to state and local laws.

     (8) ((The nursing home licensee must notify the department in writing)) In the event of a nursing home's voluntary closure((.)), the nursing home must:

     (a) ((The licensee must send this written notification sixty days before closure to the department's designated local aging and adult administration office and to)) Notify all residents and resident representatives((.)), the department's designated aging and disability services administration office, the state long-term ombudsman, and, if the facility is medicare-certified, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

     (b) Send the written notification at least sixty days before closure;

     (c) Ensure that the relocation of residents and any required notice to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the public ((must be)) is done in accordance with WAC ((388-97-4320(2))) 388-97-4320.

     (9) The nursing home licensee must ((notify the department and the health care authority in writing of voluntary termination of)) provide written notice of its intention to voluntarily terminate its medicare or medicaid contract((.)), to:

     (a) The ((licensee must send this written notification sixty days before contract termination, to the)) department's designated ((local)) aging and disability services administration office ((and to all residents and resident representatives.));

     (b) ((If the contractor continues to provide nursing facility services, the contract termination will be subject to federal law prohibiting the discharge of residents who are residing in the facility on the day before the effective date of the contract termination)) The Washington health care authority;

     (c) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

     (d) All residents and, when appropriate, resident representatives; and

     (e) The public.

     (10) ((The nursing home licensee must notify the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of voluntary termination of its medicare provider agreement in accordance with the requirements of 42 C.F.R. 489.52 or successor regulations)) The written notice required in subsection (9) must be provided, at least sixty days before contract termination, except notice to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the public must be provided in accordance with the requirements of 42 C.F.R. 489.52.

     (11) If a nursing home voluntarily withdraws from participation in the medicaid program, but continues to provide nursing facility services, the nursing home will be subject to 42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(2)(F), which prohibits the discharge of medicaid residents who are residing in the facility before the effective date of the withdrawal.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW. 11-22-077, § 388-97-1640, filed 11/1/11, effective 12/2/11. Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-1640, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (a) There must be at least one registered nurse or licensed practical nurse on duty eight hours per day, and additional licensed staff on any shift if indicated. WAC 388-97-1080 (2)(a) and (3)(a) and (b) do not apply to ICF/MR nursing facilities; and

     (b) A medical director is not required.

     (2) Staff from the division of developmental disabilities will approve of social/therapeutic leave for individuals who reside in ((ICF/MR)) ICF/IID nursing facilities.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-2020, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]

     (1) WAC 388-97-2440, regarding the required number of square feet per bed; and

     (2) WAC 388-97-2660, regarding cubicle curtains.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 18.51 and 74.42 RCW and 42 C.F.R. 489.52. 08-20-062, § 388-97-2180, filed 9/24/08, effective 11/1/08.]