§ 42-66.7-3 - Definitions.
SECTION 42-66.7-3
§ 42-66.7-3 Definitions. – As used in this chapter:
(1) An "act" of any facility or government agency includesany failure or refusal to act by any facility or government agency.
(2) "Administrator" means any person who is charged with thegeneral administration or supervision of a facility whether or not that personhas an ownership interest and whether or not that person's functions and dutiesare shared with one or more other persons.
(3) "Elderly" means any person sixty (60) years of age orolder who is a resident of any facility.
(4) "Facility" means any facility or institution, home careprovider or home nursing care provider, whether public or private, offeringhealth or health related services for the institutionalized elderly, and whichis subject to regulation, visitation, inspection, or supervision by anygovernment agency. "Facilities" include, but are not limited to, nursing homes,intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities, convalescent homes,rehabilitation centers, home care agencies, homes for the aged, veterans'homes, boarding homes, and adult supportive care, residential care and assistedliving residences.
(5) "Government agency" means any department, division,office, bureau, board, commission, authority, non-profit communityorganization, or any other agency or instrumentality created by anymunicipality or by the state, or to which the state is a party, which isresponsible for the regulation, inspection, visitation, or supervision offacilities or which provides services to residents of facilities.
(6) "Ombudsperson" means the person or persons designated bythe director. That person or persons shall have expertise and experience in thefields of social work, long-term care, and advocacy, and shall be qualified andexperienced in communicating with the elderly.
(7) "Resident" means any person age sixty (60) years of ageor older who is receiving treatment, care, or housing in any facility in all ofits aspects including, but not limited to, admission, retention, confinement,period of residence, transfer, discharge, and in any instances directly relatedto that status. Residents include patients and clients. Residents shall alsoinclude disabled persons under sixty (60) years of age residing in nursinghomes, or clients of residential and assisted living facilities and home careproviders/home nursing care providers and long-term care units at the EleanorSlater Hospital, including the Zambarano facility.
(8) "Interfere" means willing and continuous conduct whichprevents the ombudsperson from performing her or his official duties.
(9) "Official duties" means work pursuant to the long-termcare ombudsperson program authorized by the federal Older Americans Act or thelong-term care ombudsperson program authorized by state law and carried outunder the auspices and general direction of the state long-term careombudsperson.
(10) "Director" means the director of the department ofelderly affairs.
(11) "Person" means any individual, trust, or estate,partnership, limited liability corporation, corporation (includingassociations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies), state, orpolitical subdivision or instrumentality of a state.
(12) "Health oversight agency" means, for the purposes ofthis chapter, the department of elderly affairs or the person or entitydesignated as the state's long-term care ombudsperson by the director of thedepartment of elderly affairs, including the employees or agents of such personor entity, when they are acting to fulfill the duties and responsibilities ofthe state's long-term care ombudsperson program in which health information isnecessary to oversee the health system and in accordance with the U.S. HealthInsurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.