BILL REQ. #:  H-4013.1 

Read first time 01/19/2004.   Referred to Committee on Health Care.

     AN ACT Relating to openness and due process for residents in boarding homes; amending RCW 18.20.110, 18.20.120, 18.20.125, and 18.20.195; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 18.20.110 and 2003 c 280 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department shall make or cause to be made, at least every eighteen months with an annual average of fifteen months, an inspection and investigation of all boarding homes. However, the department may delay an inspection to twenty-four months if the boarding home has had three consecutive inspections with no written notice of violations and has received no written notice of violations resulting from complaint investigation during that same time period. The department may at anytime make an unannounced inspection of a licensed home to assure that the licensee is in compliance with this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter. Every inspection shall focus primarily on actual or potential resident outcomes, and may include an inspection of every part of the premises and an examination of all records (other than financial records), methods of administration, the general and special dietary, and the stores and methods of supply. Financial records of the boarding home may be examined when the department has reasonable cause to believe that financial obligations related to resident care or services will not be met, such as a complaint that staff or utilities have not been paid, or when necessary for the department to investigate alleged financial exploitation of a resident. Following ((such an)) the department's inspection or inspections, written notice of any violation of this law or the rules adopted hereunder shall be given to the applicant or licensee and the department. The department may prescribe by rule that any licensee or applicant desiring to make specified types of alterations or additions to its facilities or to construct new facilities shall, before commencing such alteration, addition, or new construction, submit plans and specifications therefor to the agencies responsible for plan reviews for preliminary inspection and approval or recommendations with respect to compliance with the rules and standards herein authorized.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.20.120 and 2000 c 47 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     All information received by the department through filed reports, inspections, or as otherwise authorized under this chapter ((shall not be disclosed publicly in any manner as to identify individuals or boarding homes, except at the specific request of a member of the public and disclosure is)), or used by the department in connection with this chapter, is subject to public records disclosure consistent with RCW 42.17.260(1).

Sec. 3   RCW 18.20.125 and 2003 c 231 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Inspections must be outcome based and responsive to resident complaints and based on a clear set of health, quality of care, and safety standards that are easily understandable and have been made available to facilities, residents, and other interested parties. This includes that when conducting licensing inspections, the department shall interview an appropriate percentage of residents, family members, and advocates in addition to interviewing appropriate staff. At the conclusion of the on-site license inspection, the department shall conduct an exit meeting at the facility to explain the department's preliminary findings and to provide the facility and the resident council, or other representatives of the residents, the opportunity to provide clarifying information.
     (2) Prompt and specific enforcement remedies shall also be implemented without delay, consistent with RCW 18.20.190, for facilities found to have delivered care or failed to deliver care resulting in problems that are serious, recurring, or uncorrected, or that create a hazard that is causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to one or more residents. These enforcement remedies may also include, when appropriate, reasonable conditions on a license. In the selection of remedies, the safety, health, and well-being of residents shall be of paramount importance.
     (3) To the extent funding is available, the licensee, administrator, and their staff should be screened through background checks in a uniform and timely manner to ensure that they do not have a criminal history that would disqualify them from working with vulnerable adults. Employees may be provisionally hired pending the results of the background check if they have been given three positive references.
     (4) No licensee, administrator, or staff, or prospective licensee, administrator, or staff, with a stipulated finding of fact, conclusion of law, and agreed order, or finding of fact, conclusion of law, or final order issued by a disciplining authority, a court of law, or entered into the state registry finding him or her guilty of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment of a minor or a vulnerable adult as defined in chapter 74.34 RCW shall be employed in the care of and have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults.

Sec. 4   RCW 18.20.195 and 2001 c 193 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The licensee or its designee has the right to an informal dispute resolution process to dispute any violation found or enforcement remedy imposed by the department during a licensing inspection or complaint investigation. The purpose of the informal dispute resolution process is to provide an opportunity for an exchange of information that may lead to the modification, deletion, or removal of a violation, or parts of a violation, or enforcement remedy imposed by the department. If the dispute concerns a complaint investigation, the complainant shall be given the opportunity to provide the department with clarifying information before the department reaches a decision. If the dispute concerns a licensing inspection, the resident council or other representatives of the residents shall be given the opportunity to provide the department with clarifying information before the department reaches a decision.
     (2) The informal dispute resolution process provided by the department shall include, but is not necessarily limited to, an opportunity for review by a department employee who did not participate in, or oversee, the determination of the violation or enforcement remedy under dispute. The department shall develop, or further develop, an informal dispute resolution process consistent with this section.
     (3) A request for an informal dispute resolution shall be made to the department within ten working days from the receipt of a written finding of a violation or enforcement remedy. The request shall identify the violation or violations and enforcement remedy or remedies being disputed. The department shall convene a meeting, when possible, within ten working days of receipt of the request for informal dispute resolution, unless by mutual agreement a later date is agreed upon.
     (4) If the department determines that a violation or enforcement remedy should not be cited or imposed, the department shall delete the violation or immediately rescind or modify the enforcement remedy. If the department determines that a violation should have been cited or an enforcement remedy imposed, the department shall add the citation and enforcement remedy. Upon request, the department shall issue a clean copy of the revised report, statement of deficiencies, or notice of enforcement action.
     (5) The request for informal dispute resolution does not delay the effective date of any enforcement remedy imposed by the department, except that civil monetary fines are not payable until the exhaustion of any formal hearing and appeal rights provided under this chapter. The licensee shall submit to the department, within the time period prescribed by the department, a plan of correction to address any undisputed violations, and including any violations that still remain following the informal dispute resolution.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   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.