Public Act 93-0372

SB40 Enrolled                        LRB093 03840 LRD 03875 b

    AN ACT concerning emergency services.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.  The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
Act is amended by changing Section 32.5 as follows:

    (210 ILCS 50/32.5)
    Sec. 32.5.  Freestanding Emergency Center;  demonstration
program.
    (a)  The  Department  shall  issue an annual Freestanding
Emergency Center (FEC) license to any facility that:
         (1)  is located: (i)(A) in  a  municipality  with  a
    population  of  75,000  60,000  or fewer inhabitants; (B)
    within 15 miles of the hospital that owns or controls the
    FEC; and (C) within 10 miles  of  the  Resource  Hospital
    affiliated  with  the  FEC  as part of the EMS System; or
    (ii) either (A) in a municipality  that  has  a  hospital
    that  has   been  providing  emergency  services  but  is
    expected  to  close  by  the  end of 1997 and or (B) in a
    county with a population of more than  350,000  but  less
    than  525,000  500,000 inhabitants; (iii) within 15 miles
    of the hospital that owns or controls the FEC;  and  (iv)
    within  10 miles of the Resource Hospital affiliated with
    the FEC as part of the EMS System;
         (2)  is wholly owned or controlled by  an  Associate
    or Resource Hospital, but is not a part of the hospital's
    physical plant;
         (3)  meets  the standards for licensed FECs, adopted
    by rule of the Department, including, but not limited to:
              (A)  facility design, specification, operation,
         and maintenance standards;
              (B)  equipment standards; and
              (C)  the number and qualifications of emergency
         medical  personnel  and  other  staff,  which   must
         include  at  least  one  board  certified  emergency
         physician present at the FEC 24 hours per day.
         (4)  limits  its  participation  in  the  EMS System
    strictly to receiving a limited number  of  BLS  runs  by
    emergency   medical   vehicles   according  to  protocols
    developed by  the  Resource  Hospital  within  the  FEC's
    designated EMS System and approved by the Project Medical
    Director and the Department;
         (5)  provides   comprehensive   emergency  treatment
    services,  as  defined  in  the  rules  adopted  by   the
    Department  pursuant  to  the  Hospital Licensing Act, 24
    hours per day, on an outpatient basis;
         (6)  provides an ambulance  and  maintains  on  site
    ambulance  services  staffed with paramedics 24 hours per
    day;
         (7)  maintains   helicopter   landing   capabilities
    approved by appropriate State and federal authorities;
         (8)  complies with all  State  and  federal  patient
    rights  provisions,  including,  but  not limited to, the
    Emergency Medical Treatment Act and the federal Emergency
    Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act;
         (9)  maintains a communications system that is fully
    integrated with its Resource Hospital  within  the  FEC's
    designated EMS System;
         (10)  reports   to   the   Department   any  patient
    transfers from the FEC to a hospital within 48  hours  of
    the  transfer  plus  any  other  data  determined  to  be
    relevant by the Department;
         (11)  submits  to  the  Department,  on  a quarterly
    basis,  the  FEC's  morbidity  and  mortality  rates  for
    patients treated at the FEC and other data determined  to
    be relevant by the Department;
         (12)  does not describe itself or hold itself out to
    the general public as a full service hospital or hospital
    emergency  department  in  its  advertising  or marketing
    activities;
         (13)  complies with any other rules adopted  by  the
    Department under this Act that relate to FECs;
         (14)  passes  the  Department's  site inspection for
    compliance with the FEC requirements of this Act;
         (15)  submits a copy of a  certificate  of  need  or
    other  permit  issued  by  the Illinois Health Facilities
    Planning Board indicating that  the  facility  that  will
    house   the  proposed  FEC  complies  with  State  health
    planning  laws;  provided,  however,  that  the  Illinois
    Health  Facilities  Planning  Board  shall   waive   this
    certificate   of  need  or  permit  requirement  for  any
    proposed FEC that, as  of  the  effective  date  of  this
    amendatory  Act of 1996, meets the criteria for providing
    comprehensive emergency treatment services, as defined by
    the rules promulgated under the Hospital  Licensing  Act,
    but is not a licensed hospital;
         (16)  submits  an  application for designation as an
    FEC in a manner and form prescribed by the Department  by
    rule; and
         (17)  pays  the  annual license fee as determined by
    the Department by rule; and.
         (18)  participated in the demonstration program.
    (b)  The Department shall:
         (1)  annually  inspect  facilities  of  initial  FEC
    applicants and licensed FECs, and issue  annual  licenses
    to   or   annually   relicense   FECs  that  satisfy  the
    Department's  licensure  requirements  as  set  forth  in
    subsection (a);
         (2)  suspend, revoke, refuse to issue, or refuse  to
    renew  the  license  of  any  FEC,  after  notice  and an
    opportunity for a hearing, when the Department finds that
    the FEC has failed  to  comply  with  the  standards  and
    requirements   of   the  Act  or  rules  adopted  by  the
    Department under the Act;
         (3)  issue an Emergency Suspension Order for any FEC
    when the Director or his or her designee  has  determined
    that   the  continued  operation  of  the  FEC  poses  an
    immediate  and  serious  danger  to  the  public  health,
    safety, and welfare.  An opportunity for a hearing  shall
    be promptly initiated after an Emergency Suspension Order
    has been issued; and
         (4)  adopt   rules   as  needed  to  implement  this
    Section.
    (c)  The FEC demonstration program shall be conducted for
an initial review period concluding  on  September  1,  2001.
If,   by  that  date,  the  Department  determines  that  the
demonstration program is operating  in  a  manner  consistent
with the purposes of this Act, the program shall continue and
sunset  on  September 1, 2003.  The Department shall submit a
report concerning  the  effectiveness  of  the  demonstration
program to the General Assembly by September 1, 2002.
    An  FEC  license  issued  pursuant  to this Section shall
expire upon the termination of the demonstration program.
(Source: P.A. 90-67, eff. 7-8-97; 91-385, eff. 7-30-99.)