Section 100.6  Hearings Requested by Complainants

Pursuant to Section 3-702(g) of the NHCA, a complainant who is dissatisfied with the determination or investigation by the Department of his or her complaint may request a hearing.

a)         The parties to administrative hearing pursuant to this Section are the Department and the Complainant.  The facility shall be given notice of any such hearing and may participate in the hearing as a third party (Section 3-702(g) of the NHCA).  A request to participate as a third party must be filed in accordance with Section 100.3(b)(5) of this Part.

b)         For the purposes of this Section, a Complainant is an individual who has filed a complaint pursuant to the NHCA.  If the individual filing the complaint indicates that she or he is acting as the agent of an organization or another individual, and so requests, said organization or other individual will be the Complainant for the purposes of this Section.  In that case, the individual who acted as agent for the organization or other individual will be a "referring agent".  Unless objected to by the Complainant, the referring agent shall be entitled to receive Notice of Complaint Determination and any request for hearing made pursuant to this Part.

c)         In accordance with Sections 3-703 through 3-712 of the NHCA, the Director shall designate an administrative law judge to conduct hearings requested by dissatisfied Complainants.  All hearings shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of this Part.

d)         Dissatisfied Complainants pursuant to this Section shall have the opportunity to contest the adequacy of the Department's investigation and its determination as to whether the complaint was valid, invalid, or undetermined and also the Department's determination as to whether to issue any violation as a result of said determination.  Whenever "determination" is used in this Section, it shall include any investigation resulting in said determination.

e)         Dissatisfied Complainants pursuant to this Section do not have the opportunity to contest any other determinations or decisions of the Department.

f)          Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to entitle a dissatisfied Complainant to additional hearings or to a rehearing of a case which has already been the subject of a formal administrative hearing or a Final Order.

g)         Complainants pursuant to this Section shall carry the burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the aforesaid determinations of the Department were improper.

h)         At the conclusion of the hearing, the administrative law judge shall prepare a report in accordance with Section 100.15, and make a recommendation to the Director specifying whether the complaint should be reinvestigated and/or any invalid or undetermined finding should be changed to a valid finding or the Department should reconsider the failure to cite a facility with any violation.

(Source:  Amended at 21 Ill. Reg. 3208, effective March 3, 1997)