37.2-424 - Powers and duties of Inspector General.
§ 37.2-424. Powers and duties of Inspector General.
The Inspector General shall have the following powers and duties:
1. To operate and manage the Office of the Inspector General and to employthe personnel required to carry out the provisions of this article.
2. To make and enter into contracts and agreements that may be necessary andincidental to carry out the provisions of this article, and to apply for andaccept grants from the United States government, agencies andinstrumentalities thereof, and any other source, in furtherance of theprovisions of this article.
3. To provide inspections of and make policy and operational recommendationsfor state facilities and for providers, including licensed mental healthtreatment units in state correctional facilities, in order to preventproblems, abuses, and deficiencies in and improve the effectiveness of theirprograms and services. The Inspector General shall provide oversight andconduct announced and unannounced inspections of state facilities and ofproviders, including licensed mental health treatment units in statecorrectional facilities, on an ongoing basis in response to specificcomplaints of abuse, neglect, or inadequate care and as a result ofmonitoring serious incident reports and reports of abuse, neglect, orinadequate care or other information received. The Inspector General shallconduct unannounced inspections at each state facility at least once annually.
4. To access any and all information, including confidential consumerinformation, related to the delivery of services to consumers in statefacilities or served by providers, including licensed mental health treatmentunits in state correctional facilities. However, the Inspector General shallnot be given access to any proceedings, minutes, records, or reports ofproviders that are privileged under § 8.01-581.17, except that the InspectorGeneral shall be given access to any privileged information in statefacilities and licensed mental health treatment units in state correctionalfacilities. All consumer information shall be maintained by the InspectorGeneral as confidential in the same manner as is required by the agency orprovider from which the information was obtained.
5. To keep the Governor, General Assembly, and the Joint Commission on HealthCare fully and currently informed by means of reports required by § 37.2-424concerning significant problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to theadministration of the programs and services of state facilities and ofproviders, including licensed mental health treatment units in statecorrectional facilities, to recommend corrective actions concerning theproblems, abuses, and deficiencies, and to report on the progress made inimplementing the corrective actions.
6. To notify in a timely manner the attorney for the Commonwealth for thelocality in which a state facility is located and law enforcement, asappropriate, whenever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to believethere has been a violation of state criminal law. However, where theInspector General has reason to believe that a criminal offense has beencommitted in a state correctional facility, notification of that suspicionshall be given to the Inspector General for the Department of Corrections.
7. To review, comment on, and make recommendations about, as appropriate, anyreports prepared by the Department and the critical incident data collectedby the Department in accordance with regulations adopted under § 37.2-400 toidentify issues related to quality of care, seclusion and restraint,medication usage, abuse and neglect, staff recruitment and training, andother systemic issues.
8. To monitor and participate in the adoption of regulations by the Board.
9. To receive reports, information, and complaints from the Virginia Officefor Protection and Advocacy concerning issues related to quality of careprovided in state facilities and by providers, including licensed mentalhealth treatment units in state correctional facilities, and to conductindependent reviews and investigations.
For purposes of this section, the term "provider" shall be as defined in §37.2-403.
(2000, c. 927, § 2.1-816; 2001, cc. 792, 844, § 37.1-256; 2003, cc. 35, 40,450; 2004, c. 169; 2005, c. 716.)