Senate Bill No. 419
(By Senator Manchin)
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[Introduced March 19, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the
Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two and nine, article five-
c, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and
reenact section two, article five-e of said chapter; and to
amend and reenact sections one and two-a, article five-h of
said chapter, all relating to nursing and personal care
homes; increasing from two to three persons the number of
persons who may be cared for in an unlicensed board and care
home; redefining the terms residential board and care homes;
authorizing the director of health to waive certain
requirements; inspections; and required fire protection
procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two and nine, article five-c, chapter sixteen
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section two,article five-e of said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that
sections one and two-a, article five-h of said chapter be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5C. NURSING AND PERSONAL CARE HOMES AND RESIDENTIAL
BOARD AND CARE HOMES.
§16-5C-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears
from the context:
(a) The term "director" means the director of the West
Virginia state department of health or his designee;
(b) The term "facility" means any nursing home, personal
care home, or residential board and care home as defined in
subdivisions (c), (d) and (e) of this section: Provided, That
the care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or
not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the
degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the
household, or his or her spouse, may not be deemed to constitute
a nursing home, personal care home, or residential board and care
home within the meaning of this article. Nothing contained in
this article shall apply to hospitals, as defined under section
one, article five-b of this chapter, or state institutions as
defined under section six, article one, chapter twenty-seven or
section three, article one, chapter twenty-five, all of this
code, or nursing homes operated by the federal government or the
state government, or institutions operated for the treatment and
care of alcoholic patients, or offices of physicians, or hotels,boarding homes or other similar places that furnish to their
guests only room and board, or extended care facilities operated
in conjunction with a hospital;
(c) The term "nursing home" means any institution, residence
or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named, in this
state which is advertised, offered, maintained or operated by the
ownership or management, whether for a consideration or not, for
the express or implied purpose of providing accommodations and
care, for a period of more than twenty-four hours, for three four
or more persons who are ill or otherwise incapacitated and in
need of extensive, on-going nursing care due to physical or
mental impairment, or which provides services for the
rehabilitation of persons who are convalescing from illness or
incapacitation;
(d) The term "personal care home" means any institution,
residence or place, or any part or unit thereof, however named,
in this state which is advertised, offered, maintained or
operated by the ownership or management, whether for a
consideration or not, for the express or implied purpose of
providing accommodations and personal assistance and supervision,
for a period of more than twenty-four hours, to three four or
more persons who are dependent upon the services of others by
reason of physical or mental impairment but who do not require
extensive, on-going nursing care;
(e) The term "residential board and care home" means any
institution, residence or place, or any part or unit thereof,however named, in this state which is advertised, offered,
maintained or operated by the ownership or management, whether
for consideration or not, for the express or implied purpose of
providing accommodations and personal assistance and supervision,
for a period of more than twenty-four hours, to no fewer than
three and no more than eight ten persons who are not related to
the owner or manager by blood or marriage within the degree of
consanguinity of second cousin and are dependent upon the
services of others by reason of physical or mental impairment but
who are capable of self-preservation and do not require nursing
care, except as waived by the director and who are capable of
self-preservation;
(f) The term "nursing care" means those procedures commonly
employed in providing for the physical, emotional and
rehabilitational needs of the ill or otherwise incapacitated
which require technical skills and knowledge beyond that which
the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited to,
such procedures as: Irrigations, catheterizations, special
procedure contributing to rehabilitation, and administration of
medication by any method which involves a level of complexity
and skill in administration not possessed by the untrained
person;
(g) The term "personal assistance" means personal services,
including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking,
bathing, dressing, feeding, or getting in or out of bed, or
supervision required because of the age or mental impairment ofthe resident;
(h) The term "patient" means an individual under care in a
nursing home;
(i) The term "resident" means an individual living in a
personal care home or a residential board and care home;
(j) The term "sponsor" means the person or agency legally
responsible for the welfare and support of a patient or resident;
(k) The term "person" means an individual and every form of
organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, including
any partnership, corporation, trust, association or political
subdivision of the state.
The director may define in regulations any term used herein
which is not expressly defined.
§16-5C-9. Inspections.
The director and any duly designated employee or agent
thereof shall have the right to enter upon and into the premises
of any facility for which a license has been issued, for which an
application for license has been filed with the director, or
which the director has reason to believe is being operated or
maintained as a nursing home or personal care home without a
license. If such entry is refused by the owner or person in
charge of any such facility, the director shall apply to to
circuit court of the county in which the facility is located or
the circuit court of Kanawha County for a warrant authorizing
inspection, and such court shall issue an appropriate warrant if
it finds good cause for inspection.
The director, by the director's authorized employees or
agents, shall conduct at least one inspection prior to issuance
of a license pursuant to section six of this article, and shall
conduct periodic unannounced inspections thereafter, to
determine compliance by the facility with applicable statutes and
regulations promulgated thereunder. All facilities shall comply
with regulations of the state fire commission. The state fire
marshal, by his employees or authorized agents, shall make all
fire, safety and like inspections. Provided, That in facilities
with less than four beds, where all residents are capable of
self-preservation, the state fire marshal shall not require
sprinkler systems if such facilities conform with alternative
fire safety measures as adopted by the state fire commission.
The director may provide for such other inspections as the
director may deem necessary to carry out the intent and purpose
of this article.
ARTICLE 5E. REGISTRATION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS IN LEGALLY
UNLICENSED HEALTH CARE FACILITIES.
§16-5E-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears
from the context:
(a) The term "consumer" means an individual who is provided
services, whether or not for a fee, by a service provider, but
consumer does not include a person receiving services provided by
another who is related to him or her or the spouse thereof by
blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of secondcousin;
(b) The term "director" means the director of the West
Virginia state department of health or his designee;
(c) The term "nursing care" means those procedures commonly
employed in providing for the physical, emotional and
rehabilitational needs of the ill or otherwise incapacitated
which require technical skills and knowledge beyond that which
the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited to,
such procedures as: Irrigations; catheterization; special
procedures contributing to rehabilitation; and administration of
medication by any method prescribed by a physician which
involves a level of complexity and skill in administration not
possessed by the untrained person;
(d) The term "personal assistance" means personal services,
including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking,
bathing, dressing, feeding or getting in or out of bed, or
supervision required because of the age or physical or mental
impairment of the resident;
(e) The term "service provider" means the individual
administratively responsible for providing to consumers for a
period of more than twenty-four hours, whether for compensation
or not, services of nursing care or personal assistance for one
or two to three consumers.
ARTICLE 5H. RESIDENTIAL BOARD AND CARE HOMES.
§16-5H-1. Definitions.
(a) The term "residential board and care home" means anyresidence or place or any part or unit thereof, however named, in
this state which is advertised, offered, maintained or operated
by the ownership or management, whether for a consideration or
not, for the express or implied purpose of providing
accommodations, personal assistance and supervision, for a period
of more than twenty-four hours, to three four to eight ten
persons who are not related to the owner or manager by blood or
marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin,
and who are dependent upon the services of others by reason of
physical or mental impairment, but who do not require nursing
services care, except as waived by the director and who are
capable of self-preservation.
(b) The term "self-preservation" means that a person is, at
least, capable of removing his or her physical self from
situations involving imminent danger, such as fire.
§16-5H-2a. Fire protection.
All residential board and care homes shall comply with
regulations of the state fire commission. The state fire
marshal, by his or her employees or authorized agents, shall make
all fire, safety and like inspections.
NOTE: The purposes of this bill are to: (1) Raise to three,
the number of consumers who may be provided personal assistance
by service providers in legally unlicensed health care
facilities; (2) allow legally unlicensed facilities to provide
nursing care; (3) raise the licensure threshold from three to
four beds for nursing care, personal care and residential board
and care homes and to increase from eight to ten the number of
consumers who may be cared for in these homes. The bill also
makes the definition of board and care home consistent with otherprovisions of law. The bill also requires residential board and
care homes to comply with regulations of the state fire
commission in lieu of having a specific fire sprinkler system.
The bill allows for a waiver for nursing care services to be
delivered in a residential board and care home.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§16-5H-2a has been completely rewritten, therefore strike-
throughs and underscoring have been omitted.