ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4123
(By Delegates Compton, Leach, Hubbard,
Staton, Hatfield, Susman and Douglas)
[Passed February 25, 2002; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section seven, article five-l, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the education and
training requirements for a regional long-term care ombudsman.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven, article five-l, chapter sixteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5L. LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM.
§16-5L-7. Regional long-term care ombudsmen; qualifications;
duties; training; certification.
(a) Each regional long-term care ombudsman program shall
employ one or more regional long-term care ombudsmen to effect the purposes of this article. The regional long-term care ombudsman
shall have either: (1) At least a bachelor's degree in gerontology,
social work, health, or a related field and demonstrated experience
in one of the following areas: (A) The field of aging; (B) health
care or social service programs; (C) community programs; or (D)
long-term care issues; or (2) at least a bachelor's degree in any
field and at least three years of experience in gerontology, social
work, health or a related field.
Experience in gerontology, social
work, health or a related field may be substituted for up to two
years (sixty hours) of college on a year-for-year basis. The
supervising ombudsman must have at least a bachelor's degree in
gerontology, social work, health or a related field and
demonstrated experience in one of the following areas: (A) The
field of aging; (B) health care or social service programs; (C)
community programs; and (D) long-term care issues. Persons
employed in a designated regional long-term care ombudsman program
on the date of enactment of this article may be given a waiver from
these requirements provided that within one year from the date of
enactment of this article they enter into a program leading to a
degree in gerontology, social work, health or a related field or
complete fifty hours of continuing education units in gerontology, social work, health or a related field every two calendar year
periods. The regional long-term care ombudsman shall participate
in ongoing training programs related to his or her duties or
responsibilities. The regional long-term care ombudsman may not
have been employed within the past two years prior to the date of
his or her employment under this section by any association of
long-term care facilities. If a regional long-term care ombudsman
has been employed within the past two years prior to the date of
his or her employment under this section by a long-term care
facility, or by any organization or corporation that directly or
indirectly regulates, owns or operates a long-term care facility,
that ombudsman may not act with the authority of a regional long-
term care ombudsman in the facility of prior employment or in any
other facility regulated, owned or operated by the same ownership
as the facility of prior employment.
(b) Neither the regional long-term care ombudsman nor any
member of his or her immediate family may have, or have had within
the two years preceding his or her employment under this section,
any pecuniary interest in the provision of long-term care. For the
purposes of this section, the term "immediate family" shall mean
the spouse, children, natural mother, natural father, natural brothers or natural sisters of the regional long-term care
ombudsman.
(c) The duties of the regional long-term care ombudsman shall
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Regularly monitoring long-term care facilities and
investigating complaints filed on behalf of a resident, or filed on
the regional long-term care ombudsman's own initiative, relating to
the health, safety, welfare and rights of such residents, in
accordance with complaint investigation procedures developed by the
state long-term ombudsman care program: Provided,
That nothing in
this section shall be construed as to grant a regional long-term
care ombudsman the right of entry to a long-term care facility's
drug rooms or to treatment rooms occupied by a resident unless
prior consent has been obtained from the resident;
(2) Monitoring the development and implementation of federal,
state and local laws, regulations and policies with respect to
long-term care facilities;
(3) Training certified volunteers in accordance with the
training and certification program developed by the state long-term
care ombudsman program;
(4) Encouraging, cooperating with, and assisting the development and operation of referral services which can provide
current, valid and reliable information on long-term care
facilities and alternatives to institutionalization to persons in
need of these services and the general public;
(5) Submitting reports as required by the state long-term care
ombudsman program; and
(6) Other duties as mandated by the Older Americans Act of
1965, as amended.
(d) The state long-term care ombudsman shall develop and
implement procedures for training and certification of regional
long-term care ombudsmen. Regional long-term care ombudsmen who
satisfactorily complete the training requirements shall be
certified by the state commission on aging and shall be given
identification cards which shall be presented to employees of a
long-term care facility upon request. No regional long-term care
ombudsman may investigate any complaint filed with the West
Virginia long-term care ombudsman program unless the person has
been certified by the state commission on aging. Consistent with
the provisions of this article and any rules promulgated pursuant
to section twenty-one, certified regional long-term ombudsmen shall
be representatives of the state long-term care ombudsman program.