Bill Text: NY A05436 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Directs the office of the state long-term care ombudsman to advertise and promote the long-term care ombudsman program (Part A); directs the commissioner of health, in consultation with the state long-term care ombudsman and the commissioners of the departments responsible for the license or certification of long-term care facilities, to establish policies and procedures for reporting, by staff and volunteers of the long-term care ombudsman program, issues concerning the health, safety and welfare of residents at long-term care facilities (Part B); includes access to state long-term care ombudsman program staff and volunteers within the pandemic emergency plan prepared by residential health care facilities (Part C).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 62-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-26 - substituted by s612b [A05436 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A05436-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5436

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 16, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. CLARK -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Aging

        AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to directing  the  office  of
          the state long-term care ombudsman to provide opportunities for volun-
          teers  to work as resident advocates within the long-term care ombuds-
          man program (Part A); to amend the public health  law, in relation  to
          directing  the commissioner   of   health,   in consultation with  the
          state   long-term   care ombudsman, to establish policies  and  proce-
          dures   for   reporting, by staff and volunteers of the long-term care
          ombudsman program, issues concerning the health and safety  of   resi-
          dents  at   nursing   homes   and   residential health care facilities
          (Part B); and to amend the public health law, in relation to including
          access to state long-term care ombudsman program staff and  volunteers
          within the pandemic emergency plan prepared by residential health care
          facilities (Part C)

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "long-term care ombudsman program reform act".
     3    § 2. Legislative intent. This act enacts into law legislation relating
     4  to  the  long-term  care  ombudsman  program.  Each  component is wholly
     5  contained within a Part identified as Parts A through C.  The  effective
     6  date  for  each  particular  provision contained within such Part is set
     7  forth in the last section of such Part. Any  provision  in  any  section
     8  contained within a Part, including the effective date of the Part, which
     9  makes  a  reference  to a section "of this act", when used in connection
    10  with that particular component, shall be deemed to mean and refer to the
    11  corresponding section of the Part in which it is found. Section four  of
    12  this act sets forth the general effective date of this act.

    13                                   PART A

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04808-03-1
        A. 5436                             2

     1    Section  1.  The elder law is amended by adding a new section 218-a to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  218-a.  Volunteer  resident  advocates.  1. The office of the state
     4  long-term care ombudsman is hereby authorized and  directed  to  provide
     5  opportunities  for  volunteers  to work as resident advocates within the
     6  long-term care ombudsman program. Such office shall  provide  that  such
     7  resident  advocates  have  the same rights and responsibilities as long-
     8  term care ombudsmen as set forth in section two hundred eighteen of this
     9  title.
    10    2. The office of the state long-term care ombudsman  shall  facilitate
    11  and coordinate the planning and implementation of a program to advertise
    12  and  promote  awareness  of  volunteer  resident advocates. Such program
    13  shall utilize  promotional  materials,  media  advertising,  billboards,
    14  social  media  and  the official website of the long-term care ombudsman
    15  program.
    16    3. The office of the state long-term care ombudsman is hereby  author-
    17  ized  and  directed  to  promote rules and regulations necessary for the
    18  implementation of this section.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    20  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    21  repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
    22  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
    23  on or before such effective date.

    24                                   PART B

    25    Section  1. Section 2803 of the public health law is amended by adding
    26  a new subdivision 13 to read as follows:
    27    13. (a) The commissioner, in consultation  with  the  state  long-term
    28  care  ombudsman,  shall  promulgate  rules  and regulations establishing
    29  policies and procedures for reporting to the department,  by  staff  and
    30  volunteers  of  the  long-term  care ombudsman program, issues observed,
    31  discovered or witnessed by such staff and volunteers  that  concern  the
    32  health  and  safety of residents at nursing homes and residential health
    33  care facilities in  this  state.  Such  policies  and  procedures  shall
    34  include,  but  not  be  limited to, establishing a telephone hotline and
    35  reporting form on the department's website for  use  by  long-term  care
    36  ombudsman program staff and volunteers for the submission of reports.
    37    (b)  The  commissioner,  in consultation with the state long-term care
    38  ombudsman, shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing standards
    39  for timely and regular communications by the  department  to  the  state
    40  long-term  care ombudsman and long-term care ombudsman program staff and
    41  volunteers regarding issues reported by such staff and volunteers pursu-
    42  ant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision  and  the  resolution  of  such
    43  issues.
    44    (c)  The  commissioner,  in consultation with the state long-term care
    45  ombudsman, shall promulgate rules and  regulations  providing  that  the
    46  department  shall  notify ombudsman program staff and volunteers, at the
    47  facility where such staff and volunteers are assigned, of the time  when
    48  the  department  will  conduct  inspections  of such facility, including
    49  surveillance of such facility, and to notify ombudsman staff and  volun-
    50  teers  regarding  any  complaints  received by the department concerning
    51  such facility.
    52    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    53  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    54  repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
        A. 5436                             3

     1  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
     2  on or before such effective date.

     3                                   PART C

     4    Section  1.  Subparagraph  (i)  of  paragraph (a) of subdivision 12 of
     5  section 2803 of the public health law is amended by adding a new  clause
     6  (C) to read as follows:
     7    (C) that includes a method to provide all residents with access, at no
     8  cost,  to  state  long-term care ombudsman program staff and volunteers,
     9  and that provides state  long-term  care  ombudsman  program  staff  and
    10  volunteers with access to the facility; and
    11    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
    12    § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    13  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
    14  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgement shall  not  affect,
    15  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
    16  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
    17  or  part  thereof  directly  involved  in  the controversy in which such
    18  judgement shall have been rendered. It is  hereby  declared  to  be  the
    19  intent  of the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if
    20  such invalid provisions had not been included herein.
    21    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately  provided,  however,  that
    22  the  applicable effective date of Parts A through C of this act shall be
    23  as specifically set forth in the last section of such Parts.