(210 ILCS 50/32.5)

Sec. 32.5. Freestanding Emergency Center.

(a) The Department shall issue an annual Freestanding Emergency Center (FEC) license to any facility that has received a permit from the Health Facilities and Services Review Board to establish a Freestanding Emergency Center by January 1, 2015, and:

(1) is located: (A) in a municipality with a population of 50,000 or fewer inhabitants; (B) within 50 miles of the hospital that owns or controls the FEC; and (C) within 50 miles of the Resource Hospital affiliated with the FEC as part of the EMS System;

(2) is wholly owned or controlled by an Associate or Resource Hospital, but is not a part of the hospital's physical plant;

(3) meets the standards for licensed FECs, adopted by rule of the Department, including, but not limited to:

(A) facility design, specification, operation, and maintenance standards;

(B) equipment standards; and

(C) the number and qualifications of emergency medical personnel and other staff, which must include at least one board certified emergency physician present at the FEC 24 hours per day.

(4) limits its participation in the EMS System strictly to receiving a limited number of patients by ambulance: (A) according to the FEC's 24-hour capabilities; (B) according to protocols developed by the Resource Hospital within the FEC's designated EMS System; and (C) as pre-approved by both the EMS Medical Director and the Department;

(5) provides comprehensive emergency treatment services, as defined in the rules adopted by the Department pursuant to the Hospital Licensing Act, 24 hours per day, on an outpatient basis;

(6) provides an ambulance and maintains on site ambulance services staffed with paramedics 24 hours per day;

(7) (blank);

(8) complies with all State and federal patient rights provisions, including, but not limited to, the Emergency Medical Treatment Act and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act;

(9) maintains a communications system that is fully integrated with its Resource Hospital within the FEC's designated EMS System;

(10) reports to the Department any patient transfers from the FEC to a hospital within 48 hours of the transfer plus any other data determined to be relevant by the Department;

(11) submits to the Department, on a quarterly basis, the FEC's morbidity and mortality rates for patients treated at the FEC and other data determined to be relevant by the Department;

(12) does not describe itself or hold itself out to the general public as a full service hospital or hospital emergency department in its advertising or marketing activities;

(13) complies with any other rules adopted by the Department under this Act that relate to FECs;

(14) passes the Department's site inspection for compliance with the FEC requirements of this Act;

(15) submits a copy of the permit issued by the Health Facilities and Services Review Board indicating that the facility has complied with the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act with respect to the health services to be provided at the facility;

(16) submits an application for designation as an FEC in a manner and form prescribed by the Department by rule; and

(17) pays the annual license fee as determined by the Department by rule.

(a-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Department may issue an annual FEC license to a facility that is located in a county that does not have a licensed general acute care hospital if the facility's application for a permit from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board has been deemed complete by the Department of Public Health by January 1, 2014 and if the facility complies with the requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) through (17) of subsection (a).

(a-10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Department may issue an annual FEC license to a facility if the facility has, by January 1, 2014, filed a letter of intent to establish an FEC and if the facility complies with the requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) through (17) of subsection (a).

(a-15) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Department shall issue an annual FEC license to a facility if the facility: (i) discontinues operation as a hospital within 180 days after December 4, 2015 (the effective date of Public Act 99-490) with a Health Facilities and Services Review Board project number of E-017-15; (ii) has an application for a permit to establish an FEC from the Health Facilities and Services Review Board that is deemed complete by January 1, 2017; and (iii) complies with the requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) through (17) of subsection (a) of this Section.

(a-20) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Department shall issue an annual FEC license to a facility if:

(1) the facility is a hospital that has discontinued inpatient hospital services;

(2) the Department of Healthcare and Family Services has approved the conversion to an FEC as a project subject to the hospital's transformation under subsection (d-5) of Section 14-12 of the Illinois Public Aid Code;

(3) the facility complies with the requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) through (17), provided however that the FEC may be located in a municipality with a population greater than 50,000 inhabitants and shall not be subject to the requirements of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act that are applicable to the conversion to an FEC if the Department of Healthcare and Family Services has approved the conversion to an FEC as a project subject to the hospital's transformation under subsection (d-5) of Section 14-12 of the Illinois Public Aid Code; and

(4) the facility is located at the same physical location where the facility served as a hospital.

(b) The Department shall:

(1) annually inspect facilities of initial FEC applicants and licensed FECs, and issue annual licenses to or annually relicense FECs that satisfy the Department's licensure requirements as set forth in subsection (a);

(2) suspend, revoke, refuse to issue, or refuse to renew the license of any FEC, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, when the Department finds that the FEC has failed to comply with the standards and requirements of the Act or rules adopted by the Department under the Act;

(3) issue an Emergency Suspension Order for any FEC when the Director or his or her designee has determined that the continued operation of the FEC poses an immediate and serious danger to the public health, safety, and welfare. An opportunity for a hearing shall be promptly initiated after an Emergency Suspension Order has been issued; and

(4) adopt rules as needed to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 100-581, eff. 3-12-18; 101-650, eff. 7-7-20.)