Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a long-term health care facility shall give written notice to the affected residents or to the guardians of the affected residents at least 60 days prior to any change in the status of the license or in the operation of the facility resulting in…

(a) After notifying its affected residents, the facility shall, in response to inquiries made by prospective residents or their representatives, include notification of the change in the status of the license or the operation of the facility. (b) The facility shall give written n…

(a) Before residents are transferred due to any change in the status of the license or operation of a facility, including a facility closure or voluntary or involuntary termination of a facility’s Medi-Cal or Medicare certification, the facility shall take reasonable steps to tra…

(a) In the event of an emergency, such as earthquake, fire, or flood that threatens the safety or welfare of the residents in a facility, the facility shall do all of the following: (1) Notify, as soon as possible, family members, guardians of residents, the State Department of P…

Failure to comply with the requirements in Sections 1336 to 1336.3, inclusive, shall be subject to issuance of citations and imposition of civil penalties pursuant to Chapter 2.4 (commencing with Section 1417), and Sections 72701 and following of the California Administrative Cod…

(a) The Legislature finds that the quality of patient care in skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities is dependent upon the competence of the personnel who staff its facilities. The Legislature further finds that direct patient care in skilled nursing and intermediate ca…

A skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility shall adopt an approved training program that meets standards established by the department. The approved training program shall consist of at least all of the following: (a) An orientation program to be given to newly empl…

(a) A person who provides instruction or training, at a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility or in an educational institution, as part of a certified nurse assistant precertification training program described in Section 1337.1 or 1337.3 may be any licensed voca…

(a) An online or distance learning nurse assistant training program shall comply with all of the following requirements: (1) Provide online instruction in which the trainees and the approved instructor are online at the same or similar times and which allows them to use real-time…

(a) An applicant for certification as a certified nurse assistant shall comply with each of the following: (1) Be at least 16 years of age. (2) Have successfully completed a training program approved by the department, which includes an examination to test the applicant’s knowled…

(a) (1) The department shall prepare and maintain a list of approved training programs for nurse assistant certification. The list shall include training programs conducted by skilled nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities, as well as local agencies and education prog…

Every skilled nursing or intermediate care facility shall designate a licensed nurse as a director of staff development who shall be responsible for the management of the approved training program.

(a) Approved training programs shall be conducted during the normal working hours of the nurse assistant unless the nurse assistant receives at least the normal hourly wage for any additional time spent in the training program. (b) On or after September 1, 1978, only the followin…

(a) Certificates issued under this article shall be renewed every two years and renewal shall be conditional upon the occurrence of all of the following: (1) The certificate holder submitting documentation of completion of 48 hours of in-service training every two years obtained …

(a) The state department shall investigate complaints concerning misconduct by certified nurse assistants and may take disciplinary action pursuant to Section 1337.9. (b) The state department shall maintain a registry that includes the certification status of all certified nurse …

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) Recidivism is reduced when criminal offenders are given the opportunity to secure employment and engage in a trade, occupation, or profession. (2) It is in the interest of public safety to assist in the rehabilitati…

(a) The state department shall, through the Medi-Cal program, provide rate adjustments to skilled nursing or intermediate care facilities for the portion of additional costs attributable to the requirements of Sections 1337.1, 1337. 3, and 1337.5 with respect to Medi-Cal patients…

The state department shall assign sufficient qualified employees to supervise and evaluate training programs required by this article.

(a) The state department shall convene a work group to develop recommendations to the department on ways to expand the availability of training programs and certified nurse assistants available for hire in the state. The work group shall investigate, but not be limited to investi…

The State Director of Health Services may adopt emergency regulations pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 3 of the Government Code to implement this article. The adoption of the regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency an…

(a) (1) (A) A criminal record clearance shall be conducted for all nurse assistants by the submission of fingerprint images and related information to the state department for processing at the Department of Justice. The licensing and certification program shall issue an All Faci…

(a) For purposes of Section 668.14 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the required minimum number of hours, or the equivalent, established in this state for educational or training programs for certification training programs for nurse assistants, pursuant to Section…

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that: (a) In many areas, small, rural general acute care hospitals are experiencing financial difficulties brought upon partially because of governmental regulations and underutilization of acute care beds. (b) Closure of such facilities,…

(a) The department may request and maintain employment information for nurse assistants and direct care staff of intermediate care facilities/developmentally disabled, other than state-operated intermediate care facilities/developmentally disabled that secure criminal record clea…

Health systems agencies shall do all of the following: (a) Verify information in the health service plan received from hospitals in their respective health service area. (b) Within 45 days make a recommendation, including findings, to the state department regarding the need for, …

Any primary health service hospital, or any group thereof, may submit a health service plan to the state department when a public meeting, which satisfies the following criteria, has been conducted in the community by the hospital with respect to such hospital’s health service pl…

A primary health service hospital may request waivers pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1339.7, and Section 1339.25, authorization for swing beds pursuant to Section 1339.8 and seek the benefits pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 1339.7 by submitting a health service pla…

A primary health service hospital may amend its health service plan. Such amendments shall be subject to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 1337.7 and Section 1339.13. Amendments shall not be made to such plan solely for the purpose of circumventing sanctions administer…

The primary health service hospital shall operate under the following requirements: (a) The primary health service hospital shall be subject to the regulations contained in Division 5 (commencing with Section 70001) of Title 22 of the California Administrative Code that are not w…

(a) In accordance with the procedures prescribed in subdivision (h) of Section 1339.7, the state department shall terminate a hospital’s health service plan or its designation as a primary health service hospital, or both, when it finds that the hospital is not in compliance with…

Implementation of this article shall be consistent with federal rules and regulations in effect on January 1, 1979, and as adopted on or after such date. In keeping with the intent in enacting this article and to the extent permitted by federal law, each department within the Hea…

It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to designate certain general acute care hospitals as primary health service hospitals, which will facilitate the diversification of the small rural hospital. The designation shall apply only to those general acute care hospitals tha…

A Special Hospital: Hospice Pilot Project is hereby created. This pilot project shall be established and administered by the department, and shall consist of up to three pilot projects, one of which shall be located in San Diego. The department shall license facilities that are p…

For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (a) “Hospice” means a specialized form of multidisciplinary health care which is designed to provide palliative care, alleviate the physical, emotional, social and spiritual discomforts of an individual who …

A special hospital: hospice shall be deemed to provide acute palliative care. All patients receiving inpatient care in a Special Hospital: Hospice Project shall be admitted by, and under the supervision of, a physician member of the organized medical staff.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, in order to be licensed as a special hospital: hospice, each project facility shall meet the requirements of Sections 70101 to 70137, inclusive, 70201 to 70219, inclusive, 70241 to 70279, inclusive, 70701 to 70707, inclusive, and 70708…

(a) Each facility that is part of the project shall report to the Legislature at the end of each year of operation on all of the following factors: (1) Acuity levels of patients using the project facilities; relative cost-effectiveness of these facilities. (2) Quality of care in …

The project shall commence on January 1, 1990. However, the State Department of Health Services may establish an earlier commencement date for any one of the facilities if that facility has been licensed as a special hospital: hospice prior to January 1, 1990.

The fee for each new or renewal application for a license for a Special Hospital: Hospice Pilot Project facility shall be the annual fee as set forth for general acute care hospitals in subdivision (a) of Section 1266. If the annual fees do not cover the necessary costs which the…

For the purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) “Bereavement services” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1746. (b) “Hospice care” means a specialized form of interdisciplinary health care that is designed to provide palliative ca…

(a) A person, governmental agency, or political subdivision of the state shall not be licensed as a hospice facility under this chapter unless the person or entity is a provider of hospice services licensed pursuant to Section 1751 and is certified as a hospice facility under Par…

(a) No private or public organization, including, but not limited to, any partnership, corporation, or political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency within the state, shall do any of the following without a license issued pursuant to this chapter: (1) Represent…

(a) A hospice facility shall provide a home-like environment that is comfortable and accommodating to both the patient and patient’s visitors. (b) Building standards for hospice facilities adopted pursuant to this chapter relating to fire and panic safety, and other regulations f…

(a) A hospice facility shall provide, or make provision for, all of the following services and requirements: (1) (A) Medical direction and adequate staff. Minimum staffing standards that require at least one registered nurse to be on duty 24 hours per day and a maximum of six pat…

As used in this article, unless otherwise indicated: (a) “Health systems agency” means a health systems agency established pursuant to Public Law 93-641. (b) “Primary care mid-level health practitioner” means a physician assistant certified pursuant to Chapter 7.7 (commencing wit…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Payers’ Bill of Rights.

(a) (1) Beginning July 1, 2004, a hospital, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), shall make a written or electronic copy of its charge description master available, either by posting an electronic copy of the charge description master on the hospital’s Internet Web sit…

A hospital may not condition acceptance of a contract with a health care service plan or health insurer upon the health care service plan or health insurer waiving any provision of this article.

Any person may file a claim with the department alleging a violation of this article. The department shall investigate and inform the complaining person of its determination whether a violation has occurred and what action it will take.

(a) Beginning July 1, 2004, each hospital shall file a copy of its charge description master annually with the office, in a format determined by the office. (b) Each hospital shall calculate an estimate of the percentage increase in the hospital’s gross revenue due to any price i…