Chapter 111

Section 51D. No acute hospital shall impose any discriminatory restrictions or conditions relating to admission, availability of services, treatment, transfer or discharge with respect to any patient because that patient is a medicare beneficiary. Prohibited practices include, bu…

Section 51E. When considering and acting on applications of certified clinical specialists in psychiatric and mental health nursing for staff membership and clinical privileges, no by-law, rule, regulation or practice of a health care facility, regulated by chapter one hundred an…

Section 51F. No hospital, or other institution, licensed under section fifty-one shall discriminate against an individual qualified within the scope of his license when considering or acting on an application of a licensed independent clinical social worker for staff membership o…

Section 51G. (1) No original license shall be granted to establish or maintain an acute-care hospital, as defined by section 25B unless there is a determination by the department of the suitability and responsibility of the prospective licensee in accordance with regulations of t…

Section 51H. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Facility'', a hospital, institution for the care of unwed mothers, clinic providing ambulatory surgery as defined in section 25B, limi…

Section 51I. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Adverse event'', injury to a patient resulting from a medical intervention and not from the underlying condition of the patient. ''Che…

Section 51J. The department shall promulgate regulations regarding limited services clinics. The regulations shall promote the availability of limited services clinics as a point of access for health care services within the full scope of practice of a nurse practitioner. Nothing…

Section 51K. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Home health agency'', an entity or organization that provides home health services; provided, however, that ''home health agen…

Section 51L. (a) The department and regional EMS councils created under section 4 of chapter 111C shall annually review and update, if appropriate, their pre-hospital care protocols and point-of-entry plans to ensure stroke patients are transported to the most appropriate facilit…

Section 51M. (a) The department shall promulgate regulations relative to the operation and maintenance of birth centers licensed as clinics pursuant to section 51, hereinafter referred to as ''freestanding birth centers''. (b) The regulations shall include, but shall not be limit…

Section 51N. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Deep sedation'', a drug-induced depression of consciousness during which: (i) the patient cannot be easily awakened but responds purpos…

Section 51O. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Emergency services'', as defined in section 1 of chapter 6D. ''Urgent care center'', a clinic owned or operated by an entity that is no…

Section 52. In sections fifty-one to fifty-six, inclusive, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''Certified clinical specialist in psychiatric and mental health nursing'', a registered nurse licensed under the provisions of section eighty B of chapter one hundr…

Section 53. The department shall classify all hospitals. The department shall, after a public hearing, promulgate rules and regulations for the conduct of hospitals and clinics. Such rules and regulations shall include requirements for diagnostic and therapeutic facilities for th…

Section 53A. Every hospital and in-patient clinic licensed by the department or financially supported in whole or in part by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof shall offer to administer to any female, eighteen years of age and older, admitted as a patient to sa…

Section 53B. Any person licensed under section fifty-one shall report to the board of registration in medicine when the licensee denies, restricts, revokes, or fails to renew staff privileges, or accepts the resignation of, any physician registered with the board as qualified to …

Section 53C. Every hospital, clinic or home health care provider licensed by the department or receiving funds from the commonwealth shall comply with regulations issued by the department requiring the use of non-reusable syringes for all human injections which are intended to be…

Section 53D. (a) Any acute or non-acute hospital licensed under this chapter shall ensure the provision of services to individuals through the use of hollow-bore needle devices or other technology that minimize the risk of injury to health care workers from hypodermic syringes or…

Section 53E. The department shall promulgate regulations for the establishment of a patient and family advisory council at each hospital in the commonwealth. The council shall advise the hospital on matters including, but not limited to, patient and provider relationships, instit…

Section 53F. The department shall require acute care hospitals to have a suitable method for health care staff members, patients and families to request additional assistance directly from a specially-trained individual if the patient's condition appears to be deteriorating. The …

Section 53G. Any entity that is certified or seeking certification as an ambulatory surgical center by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for participation in the Medicare program shall be a clinic for the purpose of licensure under section 51, and shall be deemed to …

Section 53H. No hospital shall enter into a contract or agreement which creates or establishes a partnership, employment or any other professional relationship with a licensed physician that would prohibit or limit the ability of that physician to provide testimony in an administ…

Section 54. The department shall, when deemed necessary, but not more than once in each year, order an audit of the medical records required to be kept by a hospital, institution for unwed mothers out-of-hospital dialysis units or a clinic under the provisions of section fifty-th…

Section 55. There shall be an advisory council on the licensing of hospitals, hospital surveys and construction planning, consisting of the commissioners of public health, mental health and public welfare, ex officiis, and twelve persons, who shall include representatives of nong…

Section 56. Whoever advertises, announces, establishes or maintains, or is concerned in establishing or maintaining a hospital, an institution for unwed mothers or a clinic, without a license granted under section fifty-one, or whoever being licensed under said section violates a…

Section 57. Every city having a population of fifty thousand or more, as determined by the last national census, shall establish and maintain within its limits a dispensary for the discovery, treatment and supervision of needy persons resident within its limits and afflicted with…

Section 57A. The department, with or without the cooperation of local boards of health, hospitals, dispensaries or other agencies, shall establish and maintain cancer clinics in such parts of the commonwealth as it may deem most advantageous to the public health, and may otherwis…

Section 57B. The department, with or without the co-operation of local boards of health, hospitals, dispensaries or other agencies, shall establish and maintain muscular dystrophy clinics in such parts of the commonwealth as it may deem most advantageous to the public health, and…

Section 57C. The department, with the co-operation of local boards of health, hospitals, dispensaries or other agencies shall establish and maintain clinics for the aging in such parts of the commonwealth as it may deem most advantageous to the public health and may otherwise pro…

Section 57D. The department shall, after a public hearing, promulgate rules and regulations for the licensing and conduct of hospice programs. A hospice program means palliative and supportive care and other services provided by an interdisciplinary team under the direction of an…

Section 5A. Whenever the commissioner determines that the inoculation of the general public by, or the administration to the general public of, any antitoxin, serum, vaccine or other analogous product is essential in the interest of the public health and that an emergency exists …

Section 5D. The department shall make such rules and regulations concerning labeling, thickness and methods of use of plastic bags and plastic film as it shall deem necessary for the protection of the lives and safety of the public, which rules and regulations may provide penalti…

Section 5E. No person shall for the purpose of controlling algae, weeds and other aquatic nuisances therein apply chemicals to a lake, pond, stream, or other body of water within the territorial limits of the commonwealth without first obtaining a license from the department of e…

Section 5F. The department shall undertake the control of algae, weeds and other aquatic nuisances in waters within the commonwealth in accordance with priorities established under this section; provided, however, no funds of the commonwealth shall be expended for a control progr…

Section 5G. The department may require by order a city, town, person or district maintaining a water supply to provide and operate such treatment facilities as are in its opinion necessary to insure the delivery of a safe water supply to all consumers. The supreme judicial or the…

Section 5I. The department may from time to time, after a public hearing, adopt, alter or repeal such rules and regulations relative to the use of laser systems, devices or equipment as it shall deem necessary to protect the public from the hazards of laser rays or beams, with pe…

Section 5J. Any person who administers radiation treatment of any kind to another person shall use lead shields to protect such other person when clinically appropriate. If such other person is a female, any person who so administers such radiation treatment shall inform her that…

Section 5K. (A) The department, subject to appropriation, shall adopt rules and regulations that monitor the use and release of nuclear materials, source materials, or radioactive materials, whether irradiated or not, as they pertain to the operation of nuclear reactors. (B) The …

Section 5L. There shall be an advisory commission for radiologic technologists, in this section called the commission, consisting of nine members to be appointed by the governor. Members of the commission shall be citizens of the United States and residents of the commonwealth. O…

Section 5M. As used in sections five M to five P, inclusive, or the rules and regulations adopted under said sections, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''By-product material'', any radioactive material, excep…

Section 5N. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the department is hereby designated as the state radiation control agency. The department shall develop and, from time to time, after a public hearing, prescribe and establish rules and regulations, compatible or consisten…

Section 5O. The department may issue notices of violation and orders as are necessary to enforce the provisions of sections five N to five Q, inclusive, or any rule, regulation, license or registration adopted or issued under such sections. Such orders may include, but not be lim…

Section 5P. It shall be unlawful for any person to use, manufacture, produce, transfer, receive, acquire, own, or possess any source of radiation unless licensed, registered or exempted from licensing or registration requirements by the department pursuant to section five N. Any …

Section 5Q. (a) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations for the licensing of mammography facilities. Said rules and regulations shall establish mandatory requirements for facilities that offer diagnostic mammography services within the commonwealth, and shall be no …

Section 5R. For the purpose of this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Commercial establishment'', any premises used for the purpose of carrying on or exercising any trade, business, profession, vocati…

Section 5S. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''Bathing water'', fresh or salt water adjacent to any public bathing beach or semi-public bathing beach in the commonwealth. ''Department'', the department of public health. ''Public…

Section 6. The department shall have the power to define, and shall from time to time define, what diseases shall be deemed to be dangerous to the public health, and shall make such rules and regulations consistent with law for the control and prevention of such diseases as it de…

Section 62A. In each city and town which accepts this and the six following sections, in a city by vote of its city council subject to the provisions of its charter, or in a town by vote of its inhabitants, there shall, except as provided by section sixty-two F, be established, w…

Section 62B. In each such city and town there shall be an unpaid commission, called the commission on children's health camps, to consist of the mayor or chairman of the board of selectmen, who shall have no vote, the superintendent of schools, the members of the board of health,…

Section 62C. Said commission shall establish, maintain and have control of all children's health camps for the purposes named in section sixty-two A, and in addition shall have the management of all sums appropriated by the city or town for the maintenance of such children's heal…