Washington Administrative Code

(1) The department may award a DWSRF loan to create a new Group A public water system that will meet the requirements under chapter 246-290 WAC when the project is complete if: (a) The project resolves high priority public health problems caused by unsafe drinking water provided …

Annual DWSRF loan application responsibilities are established as follows:(1) Applicants shall submit a completed application package to the department on or before the due date in the application package.(2) The department shall:(a) Determine the eligibility of the project;(b) R…

The department shall, at a minimum, consider the following to assign points, and rate and rank proposed projects:(1) Criteria for risk categories and points based on:(a) Type and significance of public health problems the project will resolve;(b) If the project is needed to bring…

When awarding a DWSRF loan to a public water system, the department shall consider, at a minimum, the applicant's ability to:(1) Repay the DWSRF loan based on a risk assessment;(2) Provide adequate security in case of DWSRF loan default; and(3) Promptly begin the project based on…

(1) A borrower shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and requirements.(2) A DWSRF loan agreement must address applicable federal, state, and local laws, orders, regulations, and permits; including, but not limited to:(a) Procurement;(b) Nondiscrimination;(c) Labor;(…

(1) An applicant may request that the department reconsider a decision of ineligibility under WAC 246-296-070, 246-296-080, and 246-296-090. The request must be:(a) Sent in writing to the department at: P.O. Box 47822, Olympia, Washington, 98504-7822; and(b) Received within ten w…

(1) Federal law requires that Washington state follow a SERP for projects receiving DWSRF loans. The purpose of the SERP is to identify any significant impact to the environment that may be caused by a DWSRF project. This review must be done in compliance with NEPA or SEPA and an…

The inability or failure of any public water system to receive a DWSRF loan, or any delay in obtaining a DWSRF loan, does not change the public water system's duty to comply in a timely manner with all applicable federal, state, and local drinking water regulations.[Statutory Aut…

If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this chapter, or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.119A.170. WSR 01-21-137, § 2…

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Adverse health event" or "adverse event" means the list of twenty-nine serious reportable events updated and adopted by the National Quality Forum in 2011, in its cons…

Medical facilities must report confirmed adverse health events to the department. A medical facility must:(1) Notify the department that an adverse health event has occurred within forty-eight hours of confirmation of the adverse health event. The notification must include:(a) Th…

The National Quality Forum identifies and defines twenty-nine serious reportable events. The twenty-nine adverse health events described in the National Quality Forum 2011 update are listed in WAC 246-302-030.(1) Surgical or invasive procedure events:(a) Surgery or other invasive…

The purpose of the certificate of need program has been established by the legislature in RCW 70.38.015.[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040. WSR 91-02-049 (Order 121), recodified as § 246-310-001, filed 12/27/90, effective 1/31/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.38.135. WSR 86-06-03…

For the purposes of chapter 246-310 WAC, the following words and phrases have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.(1) "Acute care facilities" means hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities.(2) "Affected person" means an interested person who:…

(1) The rules of this chapter apply to the following:(a) The construction, development, or other establishment of a new health care facility:(i) No new health care facility may be initiated as a health service of an existing health care facility without certificate of need approv…

(1) The criteria in this section shall be used as guidelines when examining services to determine whether the service is considered a tertiary service.(2) In determining whether a service is a tertiary service the department shall consider the degree to which the service meets th…

(1) Provisions for exemptions.The secretary's designee shall grant an exemption from the requirements for a certificate of need for the offering of an inpatient institutional health service, the acquisition of major medical equipment for the provision of an institutional health s…

(1) Provisions for exemptions.The secretary's designee shall grant an exemption from the requirements for a certificate of need for the construction, development, or other establishment of a nursing home, or the addition of beds to an existing nursing home, that is owned and oper…

(1) Provisions for exemptions of qualified rural hospitals and rural health care facilities.The secretary's designee shall grant an exemption from the requirement for a certificate of need for an increase in licensed bed capacity to a rural hospital meeting the eligibility requir…

Provisions for exemptions.The secretary's designee shall grant an exemption from the requirements for a certificate of need for the conversion of nursing home beds banked under the provisions of RCW 70.38.111(8) by a nursing home meeting the eligibility requirements of this secti…

(1) Provisions for exemptions.The secretary's designee shall grant a replacement authorization exempting a facility from the requirements for a certificate of need for the replacement of existing nursing home beds under the provisions of RCW 70.38.115 (13)(a) by a nursing home me…

(1) A change in bed capacity at a residential hospice care center shall not be subject to certificate of need review under this chapter if the department determined prior to June 1994 that the construction, development, or other establishment of the residential hospice care cente…

(1) Any person wanting to know whether an action the person is considering is subject to certificate of need requirements (chapter 246-310 WAC) may submit a written request to the certificate of need program requesting a formal determination of applicability of the certificate of…

Any person planning to propose an undertaking subject to certificate of need review shall submit a letter of intent as follows:(1) The letter of intent shall include the following information:(a) A description of the services proposed;(b) The estimated cost of the proposed projec…

(1) General.(a) A person proposing an undertaking subject to review shall submit a certificate of need application in such form and manner and containing such information as the department has prescribed and published as necessary to such a certificate of need application.(i) The…

(1) The following changes to an application may be considered by the department an amendment of an application:(a) The addition of a new service or elimination of a service included in the original application.(b) The expansion or reduction of a service included in the original a…

(1) In the review of any certificate of need application, one of the following review processes shall be used: Regular review, concurrent review, emergency review, or expedited review.(2) Determination of review process.The department shall determine which review process will be …

(1) Projects for which the department may establish concurrent review schedules are identified in RCW 70.38.115(7). An annual concurrent review has been scheduled for competing projects proposing:(a) New nursing homes, not using bed allocations banked under the provisions of RCW …

(1) The department shall review concurrently during review cycles established under subsection (5) of this section the following:(a) New nursing homes beds not using bed allocations banked under the provisions of RCW 70.38.115(13);(b) Redistribution of beds from the following fac…

(1) The department shall review new open heart surgery services using the concurrent review cycle in this section.(2) Certificate of need applications shall be submitted and reviewed according to the following schedule and procedures.(a) Letters of intent shall be submitted betwe…

(1) The department shall consider the following factors in the course of reviewing and making decisions on applications for construction or establishment of nursing home beds for ethnic minorities.(a) Conformance with applicable review criteria in WAC 246-310-210, 246-310-220, 24…

(1) The emergency review process shall not exceed fifteen working days from the beginning of the review period.(2) The department shall complete its final review and the secretary's designee shall make his or her decision on an emergency certificate of need application within fif…

(1) The expedited review process shall not exceed fifty days from the beginning of the review period unless extended in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.(a) The public comment period shall be limited to thirty days. The first twenty days of the pub…

(1) The regular review process shall not exceed ninety days from the beginning of the review period and shall be conducted in accordance with this section unless the review period is extended in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.(a) The public comme…

(1) Notice required.The department shall provide written notification of the beginning of the review of a certificate of need application and notification of the beginning of the review of a proposed withdrawal of a certificate of need to interested persons and any other person s…

(1) "Opportunity for a public hearing," as used in this section, shall mean a public hearing will be conducted if a valid request for such a hearing has been submitted by one or more interested persons.(2) The department shall provide opportunity to interested persons for a publi…

(1) There shall be no ex parte contacts as defined in WAC 246-310-010 after whichever of the following occurs last:(a) The conclusion of a public hearing held in accordance with WAC 246-310-180, or(b) The end of the public comment period.(2) Any of the following communications sh…

(1) The findings of the department's review of certificate of need applications and the action of the secretary's designee on such applications shall, with the exceptions provided for in WAC 246-310-470 and 246-310-480 be based on determinations as to:(a) Whether the proposed pro…

The determination of need for any project shall be based on the following criteria, except these criteria will not justify exceeding the limitation on increases of nursing home beds provided in WAC 246-310-810.(1) The population served or to be served has need for the project and…

The determination of financial feasibility of a project shall be based on the following criteria.(1) The immediate and long-range capital and operating costs of the project can be met.(2) The costs of the project, including any construction costs, will probably not result in an u…

A determination that a project fosters an acceptable or improved quality of health care shall be based on the following criteria.(1) A sufficient supply of qualified staff for the project, including both health personnel and management personnel, are available or can be recruited…

A determination that a proposed project will foster cost containment shall be based on the following criteria:(1) Superior alternatives, in terms of cost, efficiency, or effectiveness, are not available or practicable.(2) In the case of a project involving construction:(a) The co…

(1) Kidney transplantation is a tertiary service as listed in WAC 246-310-020.(2) To receive approval a kidney transplant center must meet the following standards in addition to applicable review criteria in WAC 246-310-210, 246-310-220, 246-310-230, and 246-310-240.(a) A center …

(1) Open heart surgery means a specialized surgical procedure (excluding organ transplantation) which utilizes a heart-lung bypass machine and is intended to correct congenital and acquired cardiac and coronary artery disease.(2) Open heart surgery is a tertiary service as listed…

(1) A pediatric cardiac surgery and interventional treatment center is a hospital providing comprehensive pediatric cardiology care, including medical and surgical diagnosis and treatment.(2) Pediatric cardiac surgery and interventions includes, but is not limited to: All pediatr…

(1) To receive approval, an ambulatory surgical facility must meet the following standards in addition to applicable review criteria in WAC 246-310-210, 246-310-220, 246-310-230, and 246-310-240.(2) The area to be used to plan for operating rooms and ambulatory surgical facilitie…

The following rules apply to any in-home services agency licensed or an applicant intending to become licensed to provide hospice services, and intending to become a medicare certified or medicaid contracted service provider in a designated planning area.(1) The definitions in th…

The following rules apply to any in-home services agency licensed to provide hospice services, that is or has declared an intent to become additionally licensed to provide hospice care center services.(1) Definitions.(a) "Applicant" means an in-home services agency licensed to pr…

For all applications where the need for nursing home beds is not deemed met as identified in RCW 70.38.115(13), the following mathematical calculation will be used as a guideline and represent only one component of evaluating need:(1) The department shall calculate the statewide …

(1) The department shall review the projection method and may make changes in accordance with the following process:(a) The appropriate consumer and provider representatives and the department of social and health services shall be notified of the department's plan to evaluate th…