A. Every home for which a license has been issued shall be inspected by a duly appointed representative of the State Department of Health pursuant to rules promulgated by the State Board of Health with the advice and counsel of the Long-Term Care Facility Advisory Board. Inspection reports shall be prepared on forms prescribed by the Department with the advice and counsel of the Advisory Board.

B. 1. The Department shall at least one time a year and whenever it deems necessary inspect, survey, and evaluate each home to determine compliance with applicable licensure rules.

2. An inspection, investigation, survey, or evaluation shall be either announced or unannounced. The State Board of Health shall promulgate rules determining the criteria when an inspection, investigation, survey or evaluation shall be unannounced or may be announced by the Department. Any licensee, applicant for a license or operator of any unlicensed facility shall be deemed to have given consent to any duly authorized employee, agent of the Department to enter and inspect the home in accordance with the provisions of the Residential Care Act. Refusal to permit such entry or inspection shall constitute grounds for the denial, nonrenewal, suspension, or revocation of a license as well as emergency transfer of all residents.

3. Any employee of the Department who discloses to any unauthorized person, prior to an inspection, information regarding an unannounced residential care home inspection that is required pursuant to the provisions of the Residential Care Act shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition, such action shall be construed to be a misuse of office and punishable as a violation of rules promulgated by the Ethics Commission.

One person may be invited from a statewide organization of older adults or persons with disabilities by the Department to act as a citizen observer in any inspection.

C. The Department shall maintain a log, updated at least monthly and available for public inspection, which shall at a minimum detail:

1. The name of the home and date of inspection, investigation, survey, or evaluation;

2. Any deficiencies, lack of compliance, or violation noted at the inspection, investigation, survey, or evaluation;

3. The date a notice of violation, license denial, nonrenewal, suspension, or revocation was issued or other enforcement action occurred;

4. The date a plan of correction was submitted and the date the plan was approved;

5. The date corrections were completed, as verified by an inspection; and

6. If the inspection or investigation was made pursuant to the receipt of a complaint, the date such complaint was received and the date the complainant was notified of the results of the inspection or investigation.

D. The Department may require the residential care home to submit periodic reports. The Department shall have access to books, records and other documents maintained by the home to the extent necessary to implement the provisions of the Residential Care Act and the rules promulgated by the Board pursuant thereto.

E. The Department shall make at least one annual report on each home in the state. The report shall include all conditions and practices not in compliance with the provisions of the Residential Care Act or rules promulgated pursuant thereto within the last year and, if a violation is corrected, or is subject to an approved plan of correction. The Department shall send a copy of the report to any person upon receiving a written request. The Department may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of copying and mailing the report.

F. A state or local ombudsman as that term is defined by the Special Unit on Aging within the Department of Human Services pursuant to the Older Americans' Act, 42 U.S.C.A., Section 3001 et seq., as amended, or case manager employed by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services or one of its contract agencies is authorized to accompany and shall be notified by the Department of any inspection conducted of any home licensed pursuant to the provisions of the Residential Care Act. Any state or local ombudsman is authorized to enter any home licensed pursuant to the provisions of the Residential Care Act, communicate privately and without unreasonable restriction with any resident of a home who consents to such communication, to seek consent to communicate privately and without restriction with any resident of a home, and to observe all areas of a home that directly pertain to the care of a resident of a home.

G. Following any inspection by the Department, pursuant to the provisions of this section, all reports relating to the inspection shall be filed in the county office of the Department of Human Services in which the home is located and with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Added by Laws 1984, c. 128, § 17, eff. Nov. 1, 1984. Amended by Laws 1987, c. 98, § 11, emerg. eff. May 20, 1987; Laws 1990, c. 51, § 132, emerg. eff. April 9, 1990; Laws 2001, c. 410, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2017, c. 367, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2017.