H-3789.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2570

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Representatives Edmonds, Pennington, Schual‑Berke, Conway, Haigh, Santos and Kagi

Read first time 01/17/2000.  Referred to Committee on Health Care.

Establishing an advisory board for boarding homes.

    AN ACT Relating to the establishment of an advisory board for boarding homes; and adding a new section to chapter 18.20 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 18.20 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) In an effort to ensure a cooperative process among the department, boarding home provider representatives, and resident and family representatives on matters pertaining to the boarding home program, the secretary, or his or her designee, shall designate an advisory board.  The advisory board must include representatives of the state-wide boarding home associations, the state long-term care ombudsman program, the state-wide resident council program, and family representatives.  Depending on the topic to be discussed, the department may invite other representatives in addition to the named members of the advisory board.  The secretary, or his or her designee, shall periodically, but not less than quarterly, convene a meeting of the advisory board to encourage open dialogue on matters affecting the boarding home program.  It is, minimally, expected that the department will discuss with the advisory board the department's inspection, enforcement, and quality improvement activities, in addition to seeking their comments and recommendations on matters described under subsection (2) of this section.

    (2) The secretary, or his or her designee, shall seek comments and recommendations from the advisory board prior to the promulgation of rules and standards, implementation of programs or procedures, development of methods and rates of payment, or the issuance of guidelines.

    (3) For the purpose of implementing this section, "department" means either the department of health or the department of social and health services, depending on which department has the licensing authority under this chapter.

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