Full Text of HB2433 102nd General Assembly
HB2433 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 HB2433 Introduced 2/19/2021, by Rep. Suzanne Ness SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 210 ILCS 45/3-702 | from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 4153-702 |
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Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local health department may investigate a complaint against a facility within the local health department's jurisdiction.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Nursing Home Care Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 3-702 as follows:
| 6 | | (210 ILCS 45/3-702) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 4153-702)
| 7 | | Sec. 3-702.
(a) A person who believes that this Act or a | 8 | | rule promulgated
under this Act may have been violated may | 9 | | request an investigation. The
request may be submitted to the | 10 | | Department in writing, by telephone, by electronic means, or | 11 | | by
personal visit. An oral complaint shall be reduced to | 12 | | writing by the
Department. The Department shall make | 13 | | available, through its website and upon request, information | 14 | | regarding the oral and phone intake processes and the list of | 15 | | questions that will be asked of the complainant. The | 16 | | Department shall request information identifying the
| 17 | | complainant, including the name, address and telephone number, | 18 | | to help
enable appropriate follow-up. The Department shall act | 19 | | on such complaints
via on-site visits or other methods deemed | 20 | | appropriate to handle the
complaints with or without such | 21 | | identifying information, as otherwise
provided under this | 22 | | Section. The complainant shall be informed that
compliance | 23 | | with such request is not required to satisfy the procedures |
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| 1 | | for
filing a complaint under this Act. The Department must | 2 | | notify complainants that complaints with less information | 3 | | provided are far more difficult to respond to and investigate.
| 4 | | (b) The substance of the complaint shall be provided in | 5 | | writing to the
licensee, owner, or administrator no earlier | 6 | | than at the commencement of an
on-site inspection of the | 7 | | facility which takes place pursuant to the complaint.
| 8 | | (c) The Department shall not disclose the name of the | 9 | | complainant unless
the complainant consents in writing to the | 10 | | disclosure or the investigation
results in a judicial | 11 | | proceeding, or unless disclosure is essential to the
| 12 | | investigation. The complainant shall be given the opportunity | 13 | | to withdraw
the complaint before disclosure. Upon the request | 14 | | of the complainant, the
Department may permit the complainant | 15 | | or a representative of the complainant
to accompany the person | 16 | | making the on-site inspection of the facility.
| 17 | | (d) Upon receipt of a complaint, the Department shall | 18 | | determine whether this
Act or a rule promulgated under this | 19 | | Act has been or is being violated. The
Department shall | 20 | | investigate all complaints alleging abuse or neglect within
7 | 21 | | days after the receipt of the complaint except that complaints | 22 | | of abuse
or neglect which indicate that a resident's life or | 23 | | safety is in imminent
danger shall be investigated within 24 | 24 | | hours after receipt of the
complaint. All other complaints | 25 | | shall be investigated within 30 days after
the receipt of the | 26 | | complaint. The Department employees investigating a
complaint |
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| 1 | | shall conduct a brief, informal exit conference with the | 2 | | facility
to alert its administration of any suspected serious | 3 | | deficiency that poses
a direct threat to the health, safety or | 4 | | welfare of a resident to enable an
immediate correction for | 5 | | the alleviation or elimination of such threat.
Such | 6 | | information and findings discussed in the brief exit | 7 | | conference shall
become a part of the investigating record but | 8 | | shall not in any way
constitute an official or final notice of | 9 | | violation as provided under
Section 3-301. All complaints | 10 | | shall be classified as
"an invalid report", "a valid report", | 11 | | or "an undetermined
report". For any complaint classified as | 12 | | "a valid report", the
Department must determine within 30 | 13 | | working days
if any rule or provision of this Act has been or | 14 | | is being violated.
| 15 | | (d-1) The Department shall, whenever possible, combine an | 16 | | on-site
investigation of a complaint in a facility with other | 17 | | inspections in order
to avoid duplication of inspections.
| 18 | | (d-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local | 19 | | health department may investigate a complaint against a | 20 | | facility within the local health department's jurisdiction. | 21 | | (e) In all cases, the Department shall inform the | 22 | | complainant of its
findings within 10 days of its | 23 | | determination unless otherwise indicated
by the complainant, | 24 | | and the complainant may direct the Department to
send a copy of | 25 | | such findings to another person. The Department's findings
may | 26 | | include comments or documentation provided by either the |
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| 1 | | complainant
or the licensee pertaining to the complaint. The | 2 | | Department shall also
notify the facility of such findings | 3 | | within 10 days of the determination,
but the name of the | 4 | | complainant or residents shall not be disclosed in this
notice | 5 | | to the facility. The notice of such
findings shall include a | 6 | | copy of the written determination; the
correction order, if | 7 | | any; the warning notice, if any; the inspection
report; or the | 8 | | State licensure form on which the violation is listed.
| 9 | | (f) A written determination, correction order, or warning | 10 | | notice
concerning a complaint, together with the facility's | 11 | | response, shall be
available for public inspection, but the | 12 | | name of the complainant or
resident shall not be disclosed | 13 | | without his consent.
| 14 | | (g) A complainant who is dissatisfied with the | 15 | | determination or
investigation by the Department may request a | 16 | | hearing under Section
3-703. The facility shall be given | 17 | | notice of any such
hearing and may participate in the hearing | 18 | | as a party. If a facility
requests a hearing under Section | 19 | | 3-703 which
concerns a matter covered by a complaint, the | 20 | | complainant shall be given
notice and may participate in the | 21 | | hearing as a party. A request
for a hearing by either a | 22 | | complainant or a facility shall be
submitted in writing to the | 23 | | Department within 30 days after the mailing
of the | 24 | | Department's findings as described in subsection (e) of this
| 25 | | Section. Upon receipt of the request the Department shall | 26 | | conduct a hearing
as provided under Section 3-703.
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| 1 | | (g-5) The Department shall conduct an annual review and | 2 | | make a report concerning the complaint process that includes | 3 | | the number of complaints received, the breakdown of anonymous | 4 | | and non-anonymous complaints and whether the complaints were | 5 | | substantiated or not, the total number of substantiated | 6 | | complaints, and any other complaint information requested by | 7 | | the Long-Term Care Facility Advisory Board created under | 8 | | Section 2-204 of this Act or the Illinois Long-Term Care | 9 | | Council created under Section 4.04a of the Illinois Act on the | 10 | | Aging. This report shall be provided to the Long-Term Care | 11 | | Facility Advisory Board and the Illinois Long-Term Care | 12 | | Council. The Long-Term Care Facility Advisory Board and the | 13 | | Illinois Long-Term Care Council shall review the report and | 14 | | suggest any changes deemed necessary to the Department for | 15 | | review and action, including how to investigate and | 16 | | substantiate anonymous complaints. | 17 | | (h) Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to | 18 | | the
Department commits the offense of disorderly conduct under | 19 | | subsection
(a)(8) of Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of | 20 | | 2012.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 98-988, eff. 8-18-14; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
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