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90_SB0235
210 ILCS 50/32.5
Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.
With respect to the qualifications for a freestanding
emergency center license, allows a center to be located,
subject to certain other requirements, in either (i) a
municipality that has a hospital that has been providing
emergency services but is expected to close by the end of
1997, or (ii) a county with a population of more than
350,000 but less than 1,000,000 inhabitants. Effective
immediately.
LRB9000845EGfgA
LRB9000845EGfgA
1 AN ACT to amend the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
2 Systems Act by changing Section 32.5.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
6 Act is amended by changing Section 32.5 as follows:
7 (210 ILCS 50/32.5)
8 Sec. 32.5. Freestanding Emergency Center; demonstration
9 program.
10 (a) The Department shall issue an annual Freestanding
11 Emergency Center (FEC) license to a facility that:
12 (1) is located: (i) in a municipality with a
13 population of 50,000 or fewer inhabitants; (ii) either in
14 a municipality that has a hospital that has been
15 providing emergency services but is expected to close by
16 the end of 1997 or in a county with a population of more
17 than 350,000 but less than 1,000,000 500,000 inhabitants;
18 (iii) within 15 miles of the hospital that owns or
19 controls the FEC; and (iv) within 10 miles of the
20 Resource Hospital affiliated with the FEC as part of the
21 EMS System;
22 (2) is wholly owned or controlled by an Associate
23 or Resource Hospital, but is not a part of the hospital's
24 physical plant;
25 (3) meets the standards for licensed FECs, adopted
26 by rule of the Department, including, but not limited to:
27 (A) facility design, specification, operation,
28 and maintenance standards;
29 (B) equipment standards; and
30 (C) the number and qualifications of emergency
31 medical personnel and other staff, which must
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1 include at least one board certified emergency
2 physician present at the FEC 24 hours per day.
3 (4) limits its participation in the EMS System
4 strictly to receiving a limited number of BLS runs by
5 emergency medical vehicles according to protocols
6 developed by the Resource Hospital within the FEC's
7 designated EMS System and approved by the Project Medical
8 Director and the Department;
9 (5) provides comprehensive emergency treatment
10 services, as defined in the rules adopted by the
11 Department pursuant to the Hospital Licensing Act, 24
12 hours per day, on an outpatient basis;
13 (6) provides an ambulance and maintains on site
14 ambulance services staffed with paramedics 24 hours per
15 day;
16 (7) maintains helicopter landing capabilities
17 approved by appropriate State and federal authorities;
18 (8) complies with all State and federal patient
19 rights provisions, including, but not limited to, the
20 Emergency Medical Treatment Act and the federal Emergency
21 Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act;
22 (9) maintains a communications system that is fully
23 integrated with its Resource Hospital within the FEC's
24 designated EMS System;
25 (10) reports to the Department any patient
26 transfers from the FEC to a hospital within 48 hours of
27 the transfer plus any other data determined to be
28 relevant by the Department;
29 (11) submits to the Department, on a quarterly
30 basis, the FEC's morbidity and mortality rates for
31 patients treated at the FEC and other data determined to
32 be relevant by the Department;
33 (12) does not describe itself or hold itself out to
34 the general public as a full service hospital or hospital
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1 emergency department in its advertising or marketing
2 activities;
3 (13) complies with any other rules adopted by the
4 Department under this Act that relate to FECs;
5 (14) passes the Department's site inspection for
6 compliance with the FEC requirements of this Act;
7 (15) submits a copy of a certificate of need or
8 other permit issued by the Illinois Health Facilities
9 Planning Board indicating that the facility that will
10 house the proposed FEC complies with State health
11 planning laws; provided, however, that the Illinois
12 Health Facilities Planning Board shall waive this
13 certificate of need or permit requirement for any
14 proposed FEC that, as of the effective date of this
15 amendatory Act of 1996, meets the criteria for providing
16 comprehensive emergency treatment services, as defined by
17 the rules promulgated under the Hospital Licensing Act,
18 but is not a licensed hospital;
19 (16) submits an application for designation as an
20 FEC in a manner and form prescribed by the Department by
21 rule; and
22 (17) pays the annual license fee as determined by
23 the Department by rule.
24 (b) The Department shall:
25 (1) annually inspect facilities of initial FEC
26 applicants and licensed FECs, and issue annual licenses
27 to or annually relicense FECs that satisfy the
28 Department's licensure requirements as set forth in
29 subsection (a);
30 (2) suspend, revoke, refuse to issue, or refuse to
31 renew the license of any FEC, after notice and an
32 opportunity for a hearing, when the Department finds that
33 the FEC has failed to comply with the standards and
34 requirements of the Act or rules adopted by the
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1 Department under the Act;
2 (3) issue an Emergency Suspension Order for any FEC
3 when the Director or his or her designee has determined
4 that the continued operation of the FEC poses an
5 immediate and serious danger to the public health,
6 safety, and welfare. An opportunity for a hearing shall
7 be promptly initiated after an Emergency Suspension Order
8 has been issued; and
9 (4) adopt rules as needed to implement this
10 Section.
11 (c) The FEC demonstration program shall be conducted for
12 an initial period concluding on September 1, 1998. If,
13 by that date, the Department determines that the
14 demonstration program is operating in a manner consistent
15 with the purposes of this Act, the program shall continue
16 and sunset on September 1, 2000. The Department shall
17 submit a report concerning the effectiveness of the
18 demonstration program to the General Assembly by
19 September 1, 2000.
20 An FEC license issued pursuant to this Section shall
21 expire upon the termination of the demonstration program.
22 (Source: P.A. 89-516, eff. 7-18-96.)
23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24 becoming law.
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