SENATE
HOUSE
JOINT
BILL STATUS
STATE LAW
REPORTS
EDUCATIONAL
CONTACT
home
home
Engrossed Version Senate Bill 553 History

OTHER VERSIONS  -  Introduced Version - Originating in Committee  |  Enrolled Version - Final Version  |     |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
ENGROSSED

Senate Bill No. 553

(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Dittmar, Fanning, Hunter, Ross, Schoonover, Snyder, White, Buckalew, Deem and Kimble)

____________

[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;


reported April 2, 1997.]

_____________




A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article five-b, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section nine, article one, chapter twenty-seven of said code, all relating generally to the definition of the terms "hospital" and "mental health facilities"; and clarifying that regional jail facilities and correctional centers are not hospitals or mental health facilities.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article five-b, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section nine, article one, chapter twenty-seven of said code, be amended and reenacted; all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 16. PUBLIC HEALTH.
ARTICLE 5B. HOSPITALS AND SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS.
§16-5B-1. Health facilities and certain other facilities operated in connection therewith to obtain license; exemptions; meaning of hospital, etc.

No person, partnership, association, corporation, or any local governmental unit or any division, department, board or agency thereof shall establish, conduct or maintain in the state of West Virginia any ambulatory health care facility, ambulatory surgical facility, freestanding or operated in connection with a hospital, hospital or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, without first obtaining a license therefor in the manner hereinafter provided: Provided, That only one license shall be required for any person, partnership, association, corporation or any local governmental unit or any division, department, board or agency thereof who operates any combination of an ambulatory health care facility, ambulatory surgical facility, hospital, extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, or more than one thereof, at the same location. Ambulatory health care facilities, ambulatory surgical facilities, hospitals or extended care facilities operated in connection with a hospital operated by the federal government or the state government shall be exempt from the provisions of this article.
A hospital or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, within the meaning of this article, shall mean any institution, place, building or agency in which an accommodation of five or more beds is maintained, furnished or offered for the hospitalization of the sick or injured: Provided, That nothing contained in this article shall apply to nursing homes, rest homes, personal care facilities, homes for the aged, extended care facilities not operated in connection with a hospital, boarding homes, homes for the infirm or chronically ill, convalescent homes, hotels or other similar places that furnish to their guests only board and room, or either of them, or correctional centers or regional jail facilities: Provided, however, That the hospitalization, care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the household, or his or her spouse, shall not be deemed to constitute the premises a hospital or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, within the meaning of this article.
An "ambulatory health care facility" shall include any facility which provides health care or mental health care to noninstitutionalized persons on an outpatient basis. This definition does not include the legally authorized practice of medicine by any one or more persons in the private office of any health care provider.
"Ambulatory surgical facility" means a facility which provides surgical treatment to patients not requiring hospitalization. This definition does not include the legally authorized practice of surgery by any one or more persons in the private office of any health care provider.
Nothing in this article or the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be construed to authorize the licensure, supervision, regulation or control in any manner of: (1) Private offices of physicians, dentists or other practitioners of the healing arts; and (2) dispensaries and first aid stations located within business or industrial establishments maintained solely for the use of employees: Provided, That such facility does not contain inpatient or resident beds for patients or employees who generally remain in the facility for more than twenty-four hours.
Nothing in this article shall authorize any person, partnership, association, corporation, or any local governmental unit or any division, department, board or agency thereof to engage in any manner in the practice of medicine, as defined by law. This article shall not be construed to restrict or modify any statute pertaining to the placement or adoption of children.
CHAPTER 27. MENTALLY ILL PERSONS.
ARTICLE 1. WORDS AND PHRASES DEFINED.
§27-1-9. Mental health facility.

"Mental health facility" means any inpatient, residential or outpatient facility for the care and treatment of the mentally ill, mentally retarded or addicted which is operated, or licensed to operate, by the department of health and shall include state hospitals as defined in section six of this article. The term shall also include veterans administration hospitals. The term shall not include correctional centers or regional jail facilities.
This Web site is maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office of Reference & Information.  |  Terms of Use  |   Email WebmasterWebmaster   |   © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **


X

Print On Demand

Name:
Email:
Phone:

Print