Public Act 93-0241
HB1484 Enrolled LRB093 07728 BDD 07916 b
AN ACT concerning senior citizens.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Section 4.04 as follows:
(20 ILCS 105/4.04) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
(a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department
shall establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through
the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"),
in accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
(b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
context requires otherwise:
(1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section
1-104 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as now or hereafter
amended; that is, it means the right to:
(i) Enter any long term care facility or
assisted living or shared housing establishment or
supportive living facility;
(ii) Communicate privately and without
restriction with any resident who consents to the
communication;
(iii) Seek consent to communicate privately
and without restriction with any resident;
(iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of
a resident with the express written consent of the
resident;
(v) Observe all areas of the long term care
facility or supportive living facilities, assisted
living or shared housing establishment except the
living area of any resident who protests the
observation.
(2) "Long Term Care Facility" means (i) any
facility as defined by Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home
Care Act, as now or hereafter amended; and (ii) any
skilled nursing facility or a nursing facility which
meets the requirements of Section 1819(a), (b), (c), and
(d) or Section 1919(a), (b), (c), and (d) of the Social
Security Act, as now or hereafter amended (42 U.S.C.
1395i-3(a), (b), (c), and (d) and 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a),
(b), (c), and (d)).
(2.5) "Assisted living establishment" and "shared
housing establishment" have the meanings given those
terms in Section 10 of the Assisted Living and Shared
Housing Act.
(2.7) "Supportive living facility" means a facility
established under Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public
Aid Code.
(3) "State Long Term Care Ombudsman" means any
person employed by the Department to fulfill the
requirements of the Office of State Long Term Care
Ombudsman as required under the Older Americans Act of
1965, as now or hereafter amended, and Departmental
policy.
(3.1) "Ombudsman" means, or any designated
representative of a regional sub-State long term care
ombudsman program; provided that the representative,
whether he is paid for or volunteers his ombudsman
services, shall be qualified and designated by the Office
authorized by the Department to perform the duties of an
ombudsman as specified by the Department in rules and in
accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
(c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care
Ombudsman shall be composed of at least one full-time
ombudsman within the Department and shall include a system of
designated regional sub-State long term care ombudsman
programs. Each regional sub-State program shall be designated
by the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Department as a
subdivision of the Office and any representative of a
regional sub-State program shall be treated as a
representative of the Office.
The Department, in consultation with the Office, shall
promulgate administrative rules in accordance with the
provisions of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or
hereafter amended, to establish the responsibilities of the
Department and the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman
and the designated regional Ombudsman programs. The
administrative rules shall include the responsibility of the
Office and designated regional programs to investigate and
resolve complaints made by or on behalf of residents of long
term care facilities, supportive living facilities, and
assisted living and shared housing establishments relating to
actions, inaction, or decisions of providers, or their
representatives, of long term care facilities, of supported
living facilities, of assisted living and shared housing
establishments, of public agencies, or of social services
agencies, which may adversely affect the health, safety,
welfare, or rights of such residents. When necessary and
appropriate, representatives of the Office shall refer
complaints to the appropriate regulatory State agency. The
Department, in consultation with the Office, shall cooperate
with the Department of Human Services in providing
information and training to designated regional sub-State
long term care ombudsman programs about the appropriate
assessment and treatment (including information about
appropriate supportive services, treatment options, and
assessment of rehabilitation potential) of persons with
mental illness (other than Alzheimer's disease and related
disorders).
(d) Access and visitation rights.
(1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of
paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1819 and
subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection
(c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or
hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E)
and 42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section 712
of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter
amended (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care facility,
supportive living facility, assisted living
establishment, and shared housing establishment must:
(i) permit immediate access to any resident by
a designated an ombudsman; and
(ii) permit representatives of the Office,
with the permission of the resident's legal
representative or legal guardian, to examine a
resident's clinical and other records, and if a
resident is unable to consent to such review, and
has no legal guardian, permit representatives of the
Office appropriate access, as defined by the
Department, in consultation with the Office, in
administrative rules, to the resident's records.
(2) Each long term care facility, supportive living
facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
housing establishment shall display, in multiple,
conspicuous public places within the facility accessible
to both visitors and residents patients and in an easily
readable format, the address and phone number of the
Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman, in a manner
prescribed by the Office.
(e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any other representative
of the Office participating in the good faith performance of
his or her official duties shall have immunity from any
liability (civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings
(civil, criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of
the performance of his official duties.
(f) Business offenses.
(1) No person shall:
(i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or
attempt to impede in any way any representative of
the Office in the performance of his official duties
under this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965;
or
(ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate
against, or effect reprisals against any long term
care facility resident or employee for contacting or
providing information to any representative of the
Office.
(2) A violation of this Section is a business
offense, punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
(3) The Director of Aging, in consultation with the
Office, shall notify the State's Attorney of the county
in which the long term care facility, supportive living
facility, or assisted living or shared housing
establishment is located, or the Attorney General, of any
violations of this Section.
(g) Confidentiality of records and identities. The
Department shall establish procedures for the disclosure by
the State Ombudsman or the regional ombudsmen entities of
files maintained by the program. The procedures shall provide
that the files and records may be disclosed only at the
discretion of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman or the
person designated by the State Ombudsman to disclose the
files and records, and the procedures shall prohibit the
disclosure of the identity of any complainant, resident,
witness, or employee of a long term care provider unless:
(1) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee
of a long term care provider or his or her legal
representative consents to the disclosure and the consent
is in writing;
(2) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee
of a long term care provider gives consent orally; and
the consent is documented contemporaneously in writing in
accordance with such requirements as the Department shall
establish; or
(3) the disclosure is required by court order.
No files or records maintained by the Office of State
Long Term Care Ombudsman shall be disclosed unless the State
Ombudsman or the ombudsman having the authority over the
disposition of such files authorizes the disclosure in
writing. The ombudsman shall not disclose the identity of any
complainant, resident, witness or employee of a long term
care provider involved in a complaint or report unless such
person or such person's guardian or legal representative
consents in writing to the disclosure, or the disclosure is
required by court order.
(h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
provide legal representation to any representative of the
Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
connection with the performance of the representative's
official duties, in accordance with the State Employee
Indemnification Act.
(i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the
medical supervision, regulation or control of remedial care
or treatment of any resident in a long term care facility
operated exclusively by and for members or adherents of any
church or religious denomination the tenets and practices of
which include reliance solely upon spiritual means through
prayer for healing.
(Source: P.A. 90-639, eff. 1-1-99; 91-174, eff. 7-16-99;
91-656, eff. 1-1-01; 91-799, eff. 6-13-00.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.