CHAPTER 1. HEALTH FACILITIES COUNCIL
IC 16-28
ARTICLE 28. HEALTH FACILITIES
IC 16-28-1
Chapter 1. Health Facilities Council
IC 16-28-1-1
Members; appointment; conflicts of interest
Sec. 1. (a) The Indiana health facilities council is created. The
council consists of fourteen (14) members as follows:
(1) One (1) licensed physician.
(2) Two (2) administrators, licensed under IC 25-19-1, of a
proprietary health facility licensed under this article.
(3) One (1) administrator, licensed under IC 25-19-1, of a
nonproprietary health facility licensed under this article.
(4) One (1) registered nurse licensed under IC 25-23.
(5) One (1) registered pharmacist licensed under IC 25-26.
(6) Two (2) citizens having knowledge or experience in the
field of gerontology.
(7) One (1) representative of a statewide senior citizens
organization.
(8) One (1) citizen having knowledge or experience in the field
of mental health.
(9) One (1) nurse-educator of a practical nurse program.
(10) The commissioner.
(11) The director of the division of family resources or the
director's designee.
(12) The director of the division of aging or the director's
designee.
(b) The members of the council designated by subsection (a)(1)
through (a)(9) shall be appointed by the governor.
(c) Except for the members of the council designated by
subsection (a)(10) through (a)(12), all appointments are for four (4)
years. If a vacancy occurs, the appointee serves for the remainder of
the unexpired term. A vacancy is filled from the same group that was
represented by the outgoing member.
(d) Except for the members of the council designated by
subsection (a)(2) through (a)(3), a member of the council may not
have a pecuniary interest in the operation of or provide professional
services through employment or under contract to a facility licensed
under this article.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.4-1993, SEC.230;
P.L.5-1993, SEC.243; P.L.141-2006, SEC.84; P.L.145-2006,
SEC.134; P.L.1-2007, SEC.133.
IC 16-28-1-2
Chairman and vice chairman
Sec. 2. Each year the council shall elect from among council
members a chairman and vice chairman.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-3
Secretary
Sec. 3. The director serves as secretary to the council.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-4
Meetings; special meetings
Sec. 4. (a) The council shall meet at least six (6) times a year.
(b) Special meetings of the council shall be called by the secretary
upon the written request of four (4) members of the council.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.179-1993, SEC.2.
IC 16-28-1-5
Quorum; deliberation procedures
Sec. 5. (a) Eight (8) members of the council constitute a quorum
for the transaction of all business of the council.
(b) The council shall establish procedures to govern the council's
deliberations.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-6
Information to be furnished by director
Sec. 6. The director shall furnish to the council at each meeting
information concerning the status of the following:
(1) Licenses and waivers issued or contested under the
following:
(A) IC 16-28-2.
(B) IC 16-28-3.
(C) IC 16-29.
(D) IC 16-30.
(2) Monitors placed under IC 16-28-7.
(3) Receiverships imposed under IC 16-28-8.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-7
Adoption and recommendation of rules; classification of facilities;
encouragement of program development; action as advisory body
Sec. 7. The council shall do the following:
(1) Propose the adoption of rules by the department under
IC 4-22-2 governing the following:
(A) Health and sanitation standards necessary to protect the
health, safety, security, rights, and welfare of patients.
(B) Qualifications of applicants for licenses issued under
this article to assure the proper care of patients.
(C) Operation, maintenance, management, equipment, and
construction of facilities required to be licensed under this
article if jurisdiction is not vested in any other state agency.
(D) Manner, form, and content of the license, including rules
governing disclosure of ownership interests.
(E) Levels of medical staffing and medical services in
cooperation with the office of Medicaid policy and planning,
division of family resources, and other agencies authorized
to pay for the services.
(2) Recommend to the fire prevention and building safety
commission fire safety rules necessary to protect the health,
safety, security, rights, and welfare of patients.
(3) Classify health facilities in health care categories.
(4) Encourage the development of social and habilitative
programs in health facilities, as recommended by the
community residential facilities council.
(5) Act as an advisory body for the division, commissioner, and
state department.
(6) Adopt rules under IC 4-22-2.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.179-1993, SEC.3;
P.L.145-2006, SEC.135.
IC 16-28-1-8
Issuance of interpretive guidelines; approval of administrative law
judges; requesting appointments of receivers; reference of
complaints
Sec. 8. The council may do the following:
(1) Issue interpretive guidelines when necessary to assist a
health facility in meeting the requirements of a rule. An
interpretive guideline is not a rule for the purposes of this
chapter or IC 4-22-2 and may not be used to contravene a rule.
(2) Approve a list of administrative law judges to conduct
hearings under IC 16-28-10-1.
(3) Request the attorney general to seek the appointment of a
receiver for a health facility as authorized under IC 16-28-8.
(4) Refer complaints received about licensed personnel at health
facilities to the appropriate licensing board as described in
IC 16-28-4.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-9
Waiver of rules by council
Sec. 9. The council may not waive a rule adopted under this
chapter.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-10
Waiver of rules by executive board
Sec. 10. (a) Except as specifically provided, the executive board
may, upon recommendation by the commissioner and for good cause
shown, waive for a specified time any rule that may be waived under
the following for a health facility:
(1) This article.
(2) IC 16-29.
(3) IC 16-30.
(b) Disapproval of a waiver request requires executive board
action. However, the granting of a waiver may not adversely affect
the health, safety, and welfare of the patients or residents.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.
IC 16-28-1-11
Qualified medication aides; certification
Sec. 11. (a) Unless an individual is certified under this section:
(1) the individual may not practice as a qualified medication
aide; and
(2) a facility may not employ the individual as a qualified
medication aide.
(b) The council shall do the following:
(1) Establish a program for the certification of qualified
medication aides who work in facilities licensed under this
article.
(2) Prescribe education and training programs for qualified
medication aides, including course and inservice requirements.
The training program must include a competency test that the
individual must pass before being granted an initial
certification.
(3) Determine the standards concerning the functions that may
be performed by a qualified medication aide.
(4) Establish annual certification fees for qualified medication
aides.
(5) Adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 necessary to implement and
enforce this section.
(c) The department shall maintain a registry of each individual
who is certified as a qualified medication aide.
(d) The department may conduct hearings for violations of this
section under IC 4-21.5.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.24-2002, SEC.1.
IC 16-28-1-12
Proposal and adoption of rules
Sec. 12. (a) The department may request the council to propose a
new rule or an amendment to a rule necessary to protect the health,
safety, rights, and welfare of patients. If the council does not propose
a rule not more than ninety (90) days after the department's request,
the department may propose its own rule.
(b) The executive board shall consider rules proposed by the
council under this section and section 1 of this chapter. The
executive board may adopt, modify, remand, or reject specific rules
or parts of rules proposed by the council.
(c) To become effective, all rules adopted under this chapter must
be adopted by the executive board in accordance with IC 4-22-2. The
rules adopted under this chapter are the only rules governing the
licensing and operation of health facilities.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.179-1993, SEC.4.
IC 16-28-1-13
Licensure inspections; reports
Sec. 13. (a) Licensure inspections of health facilities shall be
made regularly in accordance with rules adopted under this chapter.
The division shall make all health and sanitation inspections. The
division of fire and building safety shall make all fire safety
inspections. The council or the director may provide for other
inspections necessary to carry out this chapter.
(b) The exact date of an inspection of a health facility under this
chapter may not be announced or communicated directly or
indirectly to the owner, administrator, or an employee of the facility
before the inspection. An employee of the state department who
knowingly or intentionally informs a health facility of the exact date
of an inspection shall be suspended without pay for five (5) days for
a first offense and shall be dismissed for a subsequent offense.
(c) Reports of all inspections must be:
(1) in writing; and
(2) sent to the health facility.
(d) The report of an inspection and records relating to the
inspection may not be released to the public until the conditions set
forth in IC 16-19-3-25 are satisfied.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11. Amended by P.L.190-1995, SEC.5;
P.L.1-2006, SEC.299.
IC 16-28-1-14
Provision of licensure inspection report copies and summaries;
maintenance and inspection of reports
Sec. 14. (a) The division shall provide, on the request of any
person and payment of a fee to cover the direct and indirect costs of
complying with the request:
(1) a copy of a report of an inspection from the public file of a
health facility;
(2) a brief descriptive summary of the annual survey report of
a health facility; or
(3) both.
(b) Reports of all inspections under this chapter shall be
maintained by each health facility for two (2) years and shall be
made available for inspection by any member of the public upon
request.
As added by P.L.2-1993, SEC.11.