Title 44, Health

(A)(1) The department may deny, suspend, or revoke licenses or assess a monetary penalty, or both, against a person or facility for: (a) violating a provision of this article or departmental regulations; (b) engaging in conduct or practices detrimental to the health or safety of …

All agreements between University Medical Associates and any of its servants, agents, and subsidiaries and partners are subject to review and approval by the Board of Trustees of the Medical University of South Carolina and the terms of any such agreements shall not conflict with…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including any provision of the Annual General Appropriations Act for FY 1996-97, members of the General Assembly must pay any co-payment or deductible as may be applicable for receiving services at a hospital facility in…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, upon approval of the proposed sale or lease of MUSC's facilities and assets, MUSC must maintain the current level of services currently offered to indigent patients at Charleston Memorial Hospital unless the MUSC Board o…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any financial obligation under the agreements entered into by a subsidiary corporation must be unconditionally guaranteed by the ultimate parent corporation of the purchaser/tenant.

(A)(1) The Medical University of South Carolina shall collect data on the incidence of Parkinson's disease in South Carolina and other epidemiological data as defined in this section. (2) For the purposes of this section: (a) "Parkinson's disease" means a chronic and progressive …

(A)(1) A health care facility, as defined in Section 44-7-130, and a health care provider licensed pursuant to Title 40 may charge a fee for the search and duplication of a medical record, whether in paper format or electronic format, but the fee may not exceed: (a) for records r…

The department, in accordance with the laws of this State governing injunctions and other processes, may maintain an action in the name of the State against any person or facility for violation of this article and regulations promulgated under this article. In charging any defend…

Any person or facility violating any of the provisions of this article or a regulation under this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars for the first offense and not more than five thousand dollars for a subsequen…

This article may be cited as the "Lewis Blackman Hospital Patient Safety Act".

For purposes of this article: (1) "Clinical staff" means persons who work in a hospital whose duties include the personal care or medical treatment of patients. "Clinical staff" includes, but is not limited to, credentialed physicians, physicians' assistants, nurses, nursing aide…

All clinical staff, clinical trainees, medical students, interns, and resident physicians of a hospital shall wear badges clearly stating their names, using at a minimum either first or last names with appropriate initials, their departments, and their job or trainee titles. All …

Except in emergency admissions, a hospital shall provide to each patient prior to, or at the time of the patient's admission to the hospital for inpatient care or outpatient surgery, written information describing the general role of clinical trainees, medical students, interns, …

Community residential care facilities licensed pursuant to this article which receive public funds, including funds appropriated in Part I of the appropriation act, directly or indirectly, including those instances where payment of an optional state supplement from the South Caro…

(A) If at any time a patient requests that a nurse call his or her attending physician regarding the patient's personal medical care, the nurse shall place a call to the attending physician or his or her designee to inform him or her of the patient's concern. If the patient is ab…

The provisions of this article do not apply to hospitals owned by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or operated by the Office of Mental Health or by specialized hospitals licensed exclusively for treatment of alcohol or drug abuse and which are un…

The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall administer and enforce the provisions of this article in accordance with procedures and penalties provided in law and regulation.

This article does not create a civil cause of action; however, this article must not be construed to preclude a claim that may have otherwise been asserted under common law or any other provision of law.

The agency placing a client in a community residential care facility shall develop an individual plan of care in cooperation with the provider. The placing agency shall monitor the plan to the extent considered appropriate by the placement agency. Prior to a community residential…

Community residential care facilities are required to furnish an item-by-item billing for all charges to the resident or the person paying the bill, upon request by the resident or person paying the bill. Items which remain unpaid are not required to be itemized again. A request …

(A) The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control shall establish a Residential Care Committee to advise the department regarding licensing and inspection of community residential care facilities. (1) The committee consists of the Long Term Care Ombudsman, thr…

(A) As used in this section, "surgical technology" means intraoperative surgical patient care that involves: (1) preparing the operating room for surgical procedures by ensuring that surgical equipment is functioning properly and safely; (2) preparing the operating room and the s…

(A) As used in this section, an "operating room circulator" means a registered nurse trained, educated, or experienced in perioperative nursing who is responsible for coordinating the nursing care and safety needs of a patient in the operating room and who also meets the needs of…

There is no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action for damages arising against, a hospital licensed under this article, its parent, subsidiaries, health care system, physician practices owned by the hospital (its parent or subsidiaries), directors, officers, ag…

(A)(1) All proceedings of, and all data, documents, records, and information prepared or acquired by, a hospital licensed under this article, its parent, subsidiaries, health care system, committees, whether permanent or ad hoc, including the hospital's governing body, or physici…

(A) If a hospital or affected person asserts a claim of confidentiality over documents pursuant to Section 44-7-392, and the party seeking the documents objects, then upon motion to the court having jurisdiction over the pending action the court shall review the documents under s…

The governing body of any county in this State in which the United States Government decides to locate or build a hospital for veterans may, by resolution passed by a majority vote of such body, convey to the United States Government in fee simple, free of all encumbrances, any l…

The doctrines of charitable and sovereign immunity as they relate to hospitals and other medical facilities in this State are hereby modified to the extent that any person sustaining an injury or dying by reason of the tortious act of commission or omission of agents, servants, e…

This article may be known and cited as the "Health Care Cooperation Act".

The General Assembly makes the following findings: (1) that the cost of improved health technology and scientific methods contributes significantly to the increasing cost of health care; (2) that cooperative agreements among hospitals health care purchasers, and other health care…

As used in this article: (1) "Affected persons" means a health care provider or purchaser: (a) who provides or purchases the same or similar health care services in the geographic area served or to be served by the applicants for a certificate of public advantage: or (b) who has …

(A) It is the intent of this article to require the State to provide direction, supervision, regulation, and control over approved cooperative agreements through the department and the Attorney General. This state direction, supervision, regulation, and control of cooperative agr…

A health care provider, health care purchaser, or health provider network may negotiate and enter into cooperative agreements with other health care providers or health provider networks or health care purchasers if the likely benefits resulting from the agreements outweigh any l…

Upon receipt of an application, the department shall publish in the State Register notice of receipt of the application. The department shall review the application in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 44-7-560 and if requested by an affected person within thirty…

(A) Upon receipt of a completed application the department shall forward a copy of the application to the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall review the request not later than thirty days after receiving the completed application. The Attorney General may advise the depa…

(A) The department shall issue a certificate of public advantage for a cooperative agreement if it determines that: (1) the applicants have demonstrated that the likely benefits resulting from the agreement outweigh the likely disadvantages from the agreement; (a) in evaluating t…

(A) The department shall actively monitor and regulate agreements approved under this article and may request information whenever necessary to ensure that the agreements remain in compliance with the conditions of approval. The department shall charge an annual fee to cover the …

The department shall maintain on file all cooperative agreements for which certificates of public advantage remain in effect. A dispute among the parties to a cooperative agreement concerning its meaning or terms is governed by normal principles of contract or other applicable la…

Nothing in this article exempts health care providers or purchasers from compliance with the provisions of Article 3 of this chapter concerning certificates of need.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the governing board of any nonprofit public hospital in this State with the approval of the governing body of the county wherein such hospital is located which has borrowed money may continue to borrow money in the name of the hospital …

A petition may be presented to the legislative delegation of any county in this State, signed by two hundred residents or freeholders of such county or two thirds of the freeholders of any township, city or town, requesting the establishment and maintenance of a public hospital o…

Upon the filing of such petition, the county legislative delegation shall submit the question to the qualified electors of the county, township, city or town at a special election called for that purpose, first giving ninety days' notice thereof in one or more newspapers publishe…

The said legislative delegation shall file with the governing body of the county, if the election was for a county or township hospital or tuberculosis camp, or with the town council if the election was for a city or town hospital or tuberculosis camp, a detailed statement of the…

Such bonds shall be issued and sold from time to time after their date to the highest bidder for cash at not less than par and in such denominations as the officials shall determine. They shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding five per cent per annum, payable semiannually, a…

The proceeds of the sale of such bonds shall be placed in the county, city, town or township treasury and shall be kept by the treasurer of such office and paid out upon the orders of the governing body of the county or the city or town council for the purposes herein mentioned.

In order to meet the principal and interest of such bonds as they mature, the auditor of the county or the clerk of the council of any town or city shall annually levy upon all of the property of such county, township, city or town taxes not exceeding two mills and for a period o…