(a) Any employee of a facility or anyone who provides services to a patient of a facility on a regular or intermittent basis who has reasonable cause to believe that a patient in a facility has been abused, mistreated, neglected or financially exploited shall immediately report such abuse, mistreatment, neglect or financial exploitation to the Department by oral and written communication. The written report shall be filed by the employee or service provider within 48 hours after the employee or service provider first gains knowledge of the abuse, mistreatment, neglect or financial exploitation.

(b) Any person required by subsection (a) of this section to make an oral and a written report who fails to do so shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation.

(c) In addition to those persons subject to subsection (a) of this section, any other person may make such a report if such person has reasonable cause to believe that a patient of a facility has been abused, mistreated, neglected or financially exploited.

(d) No facility shall retaliate or discriminate against any patient or person facilitating submission of a report or cooperating with any investigation prompted by a report under this section.

(e) Any correspondence or other written communication from a patient to the Department, the Attorney General’s office, the protection and advocacy agency and/or a law-enforcement agency shall, if delivered to or received by a facility, be promptly forwarded, unopened, by the facility to the agency to which it is written. Any correspondence or other written communication from the Department, the Attorney General’s office and/or a law-enforcement agency to a patient shall, if delivered to or received by the facility, be promptly forwarded, unopened, by the facility to such patient. Failure to comply with this section shall result in a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation.

77 Del. Laws, c. 387, § 1.