Bill Text: NJ A2292 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises inspection requirements for long-term care facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee [A2292 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2292-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Revises inspection requirements for long-term care facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning long-term care facilities and amending P.L.1986, c.164.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1986, c.164 (C.26:2H-35.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. As used in P.L.1986, c.164 (C.26:2H-35.1 et seq.):
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health
"Department" means the Department of Health.
"Long-term care facility" means a nursing home, assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, residential health care facility, or dementia care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
b. The [State] Commissioner of Health shall compile and [periodically] update, at least quarterly, a report which compares evaluative profiles of all [nursing homes] long-term care facilities in this State. The report shall compare [nursing homes] long-term care facilities on the basis of size, [staff to patient] staff-to-resident ratio, the number of actions initiated by State agencies based upon verified complaints about the quality of [patient] resident care and conditions in each [home] long-term care facility, the number and types of violations charged against each [home] long-term care facility, and shall contain such other information as the commissioner deems pertinent. The commissioner shall [periodically publicize the existence of] make the report available to the public through its Internet website and shall supply a copy of the report, free of charge, to any member of the public who requests it.
c. For the purposes of implementing the requirements of subsection b. of this section, the department shall establish standards and protocols for inspecting long-term care facilities to ensure each long-term care facility is in continuing compliance with all State and federal statutes, rules, regulations, and guidelines related to health, safety, and operations in long-term care facilities.
d. Inspections conducted pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall, at a minimum, include:
(1) a review of the long-term care facility's policies, procedures, and standards, including any written plans, guidelines, or practices established by the facility to comply with State and federal requirements with regard to long-term care facility health, safety, and operational requirements, to ensure the facility has established each such required policy, procedure, and standard, to ensure each such policy, procedure, or standard is consistent with the applicable State and federal requirements, and to ensure the facility is adhering to its policies, procedures, and standards;
(2) an inspection of the physical plant of the long-term care facility to ensure compliance with applicable State and federal health, safety, and accessibility requirements;
(3) a review of staffing levels at the long-term care facility to determine whether the facility is in compliance with minimum staff-to-resident ratios for each service offered by the facility;
(4) a review of each mandatory service provided by the facility to ensure compliance with State and federal requirements for that service, including access to care requirements, resident activity requirements, administration requirements, resident assessment and care plan requirements, communication requirements, dental services requirements, dietary services requirements, infection control and sanitation requirements, laundry services requirements, medical services requirements, quality of care requirements, pharmacy requirements, physical environment requirements, quality assessment and quality improvement requirements, medical records requirements, rehabilitation requirements, social work requirements, staff posting and reporting requirements, respite care services requirements, and any requirements as apply to specialty care services provided by the facility; and
(5) a review of any advisory services the facility provides to ensure compliance with State and federal requirements applicable to that advisory service.
e. Whenever necessary to verify data reported to the department by a long-term care facility, and in a manner that does not interfere with the ability of the long-term care facility to provide care and services to residents of the facility, the commissioner shall be permitted to:
(1) increase the number of inspections of long-term care facilities in a calendar year;
(2) increase the duration, scope, or both of an inspection of a long-term care facility; and
(3) station a member of the department's inspection team within a long-term care facility to monitor compliance with State and federal health, safety, and operational requirements.
f. For the purposes of implementing an increased number of long-term care facility inspections pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection e. of this section, the department may, upon determining that an increase in the number of inspections is necessary, and if it does not have the staff or resources to implement the increase in the number of inspections, develop a plan to incrementally increase the number of inspections over a two-year period while it acquires the staff and resources necessary to fully implement the increased number of inspections.
g. Upon determining that a long-term care facility is not in compliance with State and federal requirements related to health, safety, and operations, and particularly when determining that a facility has repeatedly violated the same health, safety, or operational requirement or that a facility has a health, safety, or operational violation with a severity rating of I or higher, may consult with superiors within the department, and document quality assurance activities, when developing a corrective plan for the facility or when directing a facility to develop a corrective action plan.
(cf: P.L.1986, c.164, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1986, c.164 (C.26:2H-35.2) is amended to read as follows:
2. Whenever the Department of Health determines that a life threatening condition exists at any [nursing home] long-term care facility in this State, the commissioner may as soon as is reasonably possible issue a public notice describing the details of the condition in such a manner as to make members of the public generally aware of the matter. The commissioner may postpone issuing the public notice until such time as the notice would not jeopardize an ongoing investigation of the [nursing home] long-term care facility.
(cf: P.L.1986, c.164, s.2)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill revises a current statutory requirement for the Department of Health to prepare a report setting forth a comparison of the evaluative profiles of nursing homes and to provide notice to the public of life threatening conditions in nursing homes, to make these requirements applicable to all long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living residences, comprehensive personal care homes, residential health care facilities, and dementia care homes, and to require the report be updated at least quarterly.
Additionally, to facilitate the implementation of these requirements, the bill requires the department to establish standards and protocols for inspecting long-term care facilities to ensure each facility is in continuing compliance with all State and federal statutes, rules, regulations, and guidelines related to health, safety, and operations. The revised inspection requirements are to include, at a minimum:
1) a review of the long-term care facility's policies, procedures, and standards to ensure they are consistent with applicable State and federal requirements and to ensure the facility is adhering to its policies, procedures, and standards;
2) an inspection of the physical plant of the long-term care facility;
3) a review of staffing levels at the long-term care facility; and
4) a review of each mandatory and advisory service provided by the facility.
The Commissioner of Health will have the authority to increase the number of inspections of long-term care facilities in a calendar year, increase the duration or scope of an inspection, and station a member of the department's inspection team within a long-term care facility to monitor compliance. If the department determines that it is necessary to increase the number of inspections of long-term care facilities, the department will be permitted to phase in the increase over a two-year period while it acquires the needed staff and resources to implement the increase.
Upon determining that a long-term care facility is not in compliance with State and federal requirements related to health, safety, and operations, and particularly when determining that a facility has repeatedly violated the same health, safety, or operational requirement or that a facility has a health, safety, or operational violation with a severity rating of I or higher, an inspector will be permitted to consult with superiors within the department, and document quality assurance activities, when developing a corrective plan for the facility.
