97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB5633

 

Introduced 2/15/2012, by Rep. Kent Gaffney

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
210 ILCS 45/2-110  from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 4152-110

    Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Provides that certain persons shall be permitted access at reasonable hours to a resident of a facility "with the resident's consent". Provides that every individual entering a facility as authorized under these provisions shall promptly notify the administrator or the administrator's designee of his or her presence and request access to those residents who have given consent. Places restrictions on access to a resident's immediate living area, and imposes other requirements with respect to access to residents. Provides that a resident may terminate a visit under these provisions at any time. Provides that if a legal guardian has been appointed for a resident by a probate court, any individual requesting personal, legal, financial, or medical information from the resident must have sought and received prior written approval from the guardian before seeking access to the resident and must present evidence of that approval to the administrator or the administrator's designee upon entering the facility. Effective immediately.


LRB097 17001 DRJ 62192 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5633LRB097 17001 DRJ 62192 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Nursing Home Care Act is amended by changing
5Section 2-110 as follows:
 
6    (210 ILCS 45/2-110)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 4152-110)
7    Sec. 2-110. (a) Any employee or agent of a public agency,
8any representative of a community legal services program or any
9other member of the general public shall be permitted access at
10reasonable hours to any individual resident of any facility,
11with the resident's consent, but only if there is neither a
12commercial purpose nor effect to such access and if the purpose
13is to do any of the following:
14        (1) Visit, talk with and make personal, social and
15    legal services available to all residents;
16        (2) Inform residents of their rights and entitlements
17    and their corresponding obligations, under federal and
18    State laws, by means of educational materials and
19    discussions in groups and with individual residents;
20        (3) Assist residents in asserting their legal rights
21    regarding claims for public assistance, medical assistance
22    and social security benefits, as well as in all other
23    matters in which residents are aggrieved. Assistance may

 

 

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1    include counseling and litigation; or
2        (4) Engage in other methods of asserting, advising and
3    representing residents so as to extend to them full
4    enjoyment of their rights.
5    Every individual, regardless of whether he or she is an
6employee or agent of a public agency, a representative of a
7community legal services program, or a member of the general
8public, entering a facility as authorized under this Section
9shall promptly notify the administrator or the administrator's
10designee of his or her presence and request access to those
11residents who have given consent to such access. Every visitor
12to whom this Section applies must, upon request, produce
13identification to establish his or her identity and the
14identity of the agency, program, or organization he or she
15represents, the purpose of his or her visit, and copies of all
16informational materials, including but not limited to
17applications for services for which interested residents will
18be asked to provide personal, legal, financial, or medical
19information.
20    No visitor may enter the immediate living area of any
21resident without first identifying himself or herself and then
22receiving permission to enter. The rights of other residents
23present in the room must be respected. This includes the
24requirement that a resident who has consented to an interview
25must be interviewed in another location if the other residents
26present in the room have denied consent to the interview taking

 

 

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1place in that room.
2    A resident may terminate a visit under this Section at any
3time. Upon a resident's termination of a visit under this
4Section, the visitor must immediately leave the living area or
5alternative meeting area and notify the front desk that the
6visit has been terminated at the resident's request.
7    If a legal guardian has been appointed for a resident by a
8probate court, any individual, whether an employee or agent of
9a public agency, a representative of a community legal services
10program, or a member of the general public, requesting
11personal, legal, financial, or medical information from the
12resident must have sought and received prior written approval
13from the guardian before seeking access to the resident and
14must present evidence of that approval to the administrator or
15the administrator's designee upon entering the facility.
16    (a-5) If a resident of a licensed facility is an identified
17offender, any federal, State, or local law enforcement officer
18or county probation officer shall be permitted reasonable
19access to the individual resident to verify compliance with the
20requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act, to verify
21compliance with the requirements of Public Act 94-163 and this
22amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, or to verify
23compliance with applicable terms of probation, parole, or
24mandatory supervised release.
25    (b) All persons entering a facility under this Section
26shall promptly notify appropriate facility personnel of their

 

 

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1presence. They shall, upon request, produce identification to
2establish their identity. No such person shall enter the
3immediate living area of any resident without first identifying
4himself and then receiving permission from the resident to
5enter. The rights of other residents present in the room shall
6be respected. A resident may terminate at any time a visit by a
7person having access to the resident's living area under this
8Section.
9    (c) This Section shall not limit the power of the
10Department or other public agency otherwise permitted or
11required by law to enter and inspect a facility.
12    (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this Section, the
13administrator of a facility may refuse access to the facility
14to any person if the presence of that person in the facility
15would be injurious to the health and safety of a resident or
16would threaten the security of the property of a resident or
17the facility, or if the person seeks access to the facility for
18commercial purposes. Any person refused access to a facility
19may within 10 days request a hearing under Section 3-703. In
20that proceeding, the burden of proof as to the right of the
21facility to refuse access under this Section shall be on the
22facility.
23(Source: P.A. 94-163, eff. 7-11-05; 94-752, eff. 5-10-06.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.