Section 151:6-a Annual Inspection.
The department of health and human services shall make at least one annual unannounced inspection of every facility licensed under this chapter, unless exempted by rules as authorized by RSA 151:9, I(b). For residential care facilities, defined in RSA 151:2, I(e), the inspection shall include a review of the programs and services offered in the facility to assure that the facility is in compliance with its current level of licensure, and a survey of the most recent individual resident needs determinations where such surveys are not done under the survey and certification process for Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended, to assure that the facility and its programs and services are appropriate to the needs of the residents. Inspection results shall be provided as a written report which distinguishes between those findings that do, and those which do not, indicate a pattern of care, or which demonstrate over the period of at least 2 inspections, a trend in the care of residents or management of the facility which has the potential for adversely affecting the health of the residents. The results of this inspection and any later inspection shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the facility in the manner determined by the commissioner of the department of health and human services. The results so posted shall indicate the facilities and services inspected and the results for each such facility or service. This section shall not apply to acute care general hospitals and critical access hospitals when the department and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations have agreed on joint inspection standards. If a residential care facility, as defined in RSA 151:9, VII(a)(1) or (2), has been inspected and is found to be deficiency-free for 2 consecutive years it shall be granted a one-year waiver from the provisions of this section; provided, that the facility is not the subject of a founded complaint investigation under RSA 151:6, the facility remains under the same administrator who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facility, and the facility remains under the same director of nursing if there is a director of nursing.
Source. 1975, 190:1. 1981, 195:1. 1991, 365:6. 1995, 310:175, 181, 182, eff. Nov. 1, 1995. 2005, 274:3, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.