Section 245.80  Licensure Required

a)         No person shall open, manage, conduct or maintain a home health agency without a license issued by the Department. (Section 3 of the Act)

b)         On and after September 1, 2008, no person shall open, manage, conduct, or maintain a home services agency, or advertise himself or herself as a home services agency or as offering services that would be included in the definition of home services or a home services agency, without a license issued by the Department.  (Section 3.3 of the Act)

c)         On and after September 1, 2008, no person shall open, manage, conduct, or maintain a home nursing agency, or advertise himself or herself as a home nursing agency or as offering services that would be included in the definition of a home nursing agency, without a license issued by the Department.  (Section 3.7 of the Act)

d)         License Nontransferable

1)         Each license shall be issued only for the specific agency named in the application and shall not be transferred or assigned to any other person, agency or corporation.

2)         Sale, assignment, lease or other transfer, voluntary or involuntary, shall require relicensure by the new owner prior to maintaining, operating or conducting an agency.

3)         In the case of agencies operating under a franchise arrangement, each unique business entity shall obtain and maintain a distinct license and shall not share licensure based on franchised name status.

e)         Each license shall be for a term of one year and shall expire one year from the date of issuance.  However, initial licenses shall expire one year from the end of the month in which the initial license was issued.

f)          Out-of-State Agencies.  A license is required for any agency providing care in Illinois, or functioning in a capacity of matching workers with clients or consumers for home nursing or home service care, including internet matching services where the parent agency is domiciled in a state other than Illinois.  In such cases, the following conditions shall be met:

1)         The licensee shall be registered to do business in Illinois under the Business Corporation Act of 1938 [805 ILCS 5] or otherwise authorized to do business in Illinois.

2)         The licensee shall have an office in Illinois.

3)         All professional care supervisory and staff personnel caring for patients or clients residing in Illinois shall be subject to any licensure, certification or registration that is required to perform the respective service in Illinois, and shall be so licensed, certified or registered.

g)         The licensee shall notify the Department in writing not less than 30 days prior to closing the agency.

h)         Any agency conducted by and for the adherents of any well recognized church or religious denomination for the purpose of providing services for the care or treatment of the sick who depend upon prayer or spiritual means for healing in the practice of the religion of such church or religious denomination is not subject to licensure.  (Section 13 of the Act)

i)          Subunits.  A separate license for the operation of a home health agency is required for each home health agency subunit.  A separate license application and fee shall be submitted for each home health agency subunit.

            (Source:  Amended at 32 Ill. Reg. 8949, effective June 5, 2008)