Public Act 093-0878
 
SB2726 Enrolled LRB093 19921 BDD 45664 b

    AN ACT concerning the Department on Aging.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Section 4.04 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.04)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
    Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
    (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department shall
establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through the
Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"), in
accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act of
1965, as now or hereafter amended.
    (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
context requires otherwise:
        (1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section 1-104
    of the Nursing Home Care Act, as now or hereafter amended;
    that is, it means the right to:
            (i) Enter any long term care facility or assisted
        living or shared housing establishment or supportive
        living facility;
            (ii) Communicate privately and without restriction
        with any resident who consents to the communication;
            (iii) Seek consent to communicate privately and
        without restriction with any resident;
            (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of a
        resident with the express written consent of the
        resident;
            (v) Observe all areas of the long term care
        facility or supportive living facilities, assisted
        living or shared housing establishment except the
        living area of any resident who protests the
        observation.
        (2) "Long Term Care Facility" means (i) any facility as
    defined by Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as
    now or hereafter amended; and (ii) any skilled nursing
    facility or a nursing facility which meets the requirements
    of Section 1819(a), (b), (c), and (d) or Section 1919(a),
    (b), (c), and (d) of the Social Security Act, as now or
    hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3(a), (b), (c), and (d)
    and 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a), (b), (c), and (d)).
        (2.5) "Assisted living establishment" and "shared
    housing establishment" have the meanings given those terms
    in Section 10 of the Assisted Living and Shared Housing
    Act.
        (2.7) "Supportive living facility" means a facility
    established under Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public
    Aid Code.
        (3) "State Long Term Care Ombudsman" means any person
    employed by the Department to fulfill the requirements of
    the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman as required
    under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter
    amended, and Departmental policy.
        (3.1) "Ombudsman" means any designated representative
    of a regional long term care ombudsman program; provided
    that the representative, whether he is paid for or
    volunteers his ombudsman services, shall be qualified and
    designated by the Office to perform the duties of an
    ombudsman as specified by the Department in rules and in
    accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
    of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
    (c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care
Ombudsman shall be composed of at least one full-time ombudsman
and shall include a system of designated regional long term
care ombudsman programs. Each regional program shall be
designated by the State Long Term Care Ombudsman as a
subdivision of the Office and any representative of a regional
program shall be treated as a representative of the Office.
    The Department, in consultation with the Office, shall
promulgate administrative rules in accordance with the
provisions of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or
hereafter amended, to establish the responsibilities of the
Department and the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman and
the designated regional Ombudsman programs. The administrative
rules shall include the responsibility of the Office and
designated regional programs to investigate and resolve
complaints made by or on behalf of residents of long term care
facilities, supportive living facilities, and assisted living
and shared housing establishments relating to actions,
inaction, or decisions of providers, or their representatives,
of long term care facilities, of supported living facilities,
of assisted living and shared housing establishments, of public
agencies, or of social services agencies, which may adversely
affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
residents. When necessary and appropriate, representatives of
the Office shall refer complaints to the appropriate regulatory
State agency. The Department, in consultation with the Office,
shall cooperate with the Department of Human Services in
providing information and training to designated regional long
term care ombudsman programs about the appropriate assessment
and treatment (including information about appropriate
supportive services, treatment options, and assessment of
rehabilitation potential) of persons with mental illness
(other than Alzheimer's disease and related disorders).
    The State Long Term Care Ombudsman and all other ombudsmen,
as defined in paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b) must submit to
background checks under the Health Care Worker Background Check
Act and receive training, as prescribed by the Illinois
Department on Aging, before visiting facilities. The training
must include information specific to assisted living
establishments, supportive living facilities, and shared
housing establishments and to the rights of residents
guaranteed under the corresponding Acts and administrative
rules.
    (d) Access and visitation rights.
        (1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of
    paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1819 and
    subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection
    (c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or
    hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E) and
    42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section 712 of the
    Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter amended
    (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care facility, supportive
    living facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
    housing establishment must:
            (i) permit immediate access to any resident by a
        designated ombudsman; and
            (ii) permit representatives of the Office, with
        the permission of the resident's legal representative
        or legal guardian, to examine a resident's clinical and
        other records, and if a resident is unable to consent
        to such review, and has no legal guardian, permit
        representatives of the Office appropriate access, as
        defined by the Department, in consultation with the
        Office, in administrative rules, to the resident's
        records.
        (2) Each long term care facility, supportive living
    facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
    housing establishment shall display, in multiple,
    conspicuous public places within the facility accessible
    to both visitors and residents and in an easily readable
    format, the address and phone number of the Office of the
    Long Term Care Ombudsman, in a manner prescribed by the
    Office.
    (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any representative of the
Office participating in the good faith performance of his or
her official duties shall have immunity from any liability
(civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings (civil,
criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of the
performance of his official duties.
    (f) Business offenses.
        (1) No person shall:
            (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or
        attempt to impede in any way any representative of the
        Office in the performance of his official duties under
        this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965; or
            (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate
        against, or effect reprisals against any long term care
        facility resident or employee for contacting or
        providing information to any representative of the
        Office.
        (2) A violation of this Section is a business offense,
    punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
        (3) The Director of Aging, in consultation with the
    Office, shall notify the State's Attorney of the county in
    which the long term care facility, supportive living
    facility, or assisted living or shared housing
    establishment is located, or the Attorney General, of any
    violations of this Section.
    (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. The
Department shall establish procedures for the disclosure by the
State Ombudsman or the regional ombudsmen entities of files
maintained by the program. The procedures shall provide that
the files and records may be disclosed only at the discretion
of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman or the person designated
by the State Ombudsman to disclose the files and records, and
the procedures shall prohibit the disclosure of the identity of
any complainant, resident, witness, or employee of a long term
care provider unless:
        (1) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
    a long term care provider or his or her legal
    representative consents to the disclosure and the consent
    is in writing;
        (2) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
    a long term care provider gives consent orally; and the
    consent is documented contemporaneously in writing in
    accordance with such requirements as the Department shall
    establish; or
        (3) the disclosure is required by court order.
    (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
provide legal representation to any representative of the
Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
connection with the performance of the representative's
official duties, in accordance with the State Employee
Indemnification Act.
    (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the medical
supervision, regulation or control of remedial care or
treatment of any resident in a long term care facility operated
exclusively by and for members or adherents of any church or
religious denomination the tenets and practices of which
include reliance solely upon spiritual means through prayer for
healing.
(Source: P.A. 93-241, eff. 7-22-03.)
 
    Section 10. The Health Care Worker Background Check Act is
amended by changing Section 15 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 46/15)
    Sec. 15. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act, the
following definitions apply:
    "Applicant" means an individual seeking employment with a
health care employer who has received a bona fide conditional
offer of employment.
    "Conditional offer of employment" means a bona fide offer
of employment by a health care employer to an applicant, which
is contingent upon the receipt of a report from the Department
of State Police indicating that the applicant does not have a
record of conviction of any of the criminal offenses enumerated
in Section 25.
    "Direct care" means the provision of nursing care or
assistance with feeding, dressing, movement, bathing,
toileting, or other personal needs. The entity responsible for
inspecting and licensing, certifying, or registering the
health care employer may, by administrative rule, prescribe
guidelines for interpreting this definition with regard to the
health care employers that it licenses.
    "Health care employer" means:
    (1) the owner or licensee of any of the following:
        (i) a community living facility, as defined in the
    Community Living Facilities Act;
        (ii) a life care facility, as defined in the Life Care
    Facilities Act;
        (iii) a long-term care facility, as defined in the
    Nursing Home Care Act;
        (iv) a home health agency, as defined in the Home
    Health Agency Licensing Act;
        (v) a full hospice, as defined in the Hospice Program
    Licensing Act;
        (vi) a hospital, as defined in the Hospital Licensing
    Act;
        (vii) a community residential alternative, as defined
    in the Community Residential Alternatives Licensing Act;
        (viii) a nurse agency, as defined in the Nurse Agency
    Licensing Act;
        (ix) a respite care provider, as defined in the Respite
    Program Act;
        (ix-a) an establishment licensed under the Assisted
    Living and Shared Housing Act;
        (x) a supportive living program, as defined in the
    Illinois Public Aid Code;
        (xi) early childhood intervention programs as
    described in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 121;
        (xii) the University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago;
        (xiii) programs funded by the Department on Aging
    through the Community Care Program;
        (xiv) programs certified to participate in the
    Supportive Living Program authorized pursuant to Section
    5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid Code;
        (xv) programs listed by the Emergency Medical Services
    (EMS) Systems Act as Freestanding Emergency Centers;
        (xvi) locations licensed under the Alternative Health
    Care Delivery Act;
    (2) a day training program certified by the Department of
Human Services; or
    (3) a community integrated living arrangement operated by a
community mental health and developmental service agency, as
defined in the Community-Integrated Living Arrangements
Licensing and Certification Act; or .
    (4) the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, including
any regional long term care ombudsman programs under Section
4.04 of the Illinois Act on the Aging, only for the purpose of
securing background checks.
    "Initiate" means the obtaining of the authorization for a
record check from a student, applicant, or employee. The
educational entity or health care employer or its designee
shall transmit all necessary information and fees to the
Illinois State Police within 10 working days after receipt of
the authorization.
(Source: P.A. 91-598, eff. 1-1-00; 91-656, eff. 1-1-01; 92-16,
eff. 6-28-01.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
January 1, 2005.