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1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 4.04 as follows:
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6 | (20 ILCS 105/4.04) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
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7 | Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
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8 | (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department shall
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9 | establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through the | ||||||
10 | Office of State
Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"), in | ||||||
11 | accordance with the provisions of
the Older Americans Act of | ||||||
12 | 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
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13 | (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the | ||||||
14 | context requires
otherwise:
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15 | (1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section 1-104 | ||||||
16 | of the Nursing
Home Care Act, as now or hereafter amended; | ||||||
17 | that is, it means the right to:
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18 | (i) Enter any long term care facility or assisted | ||||||
19 | living or shared
housing establishment or supportive | ||||||
20 | living facility;
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21 | (ii) Communicate privately and without restriction | ||||||
22 | with any resident , regardless of age,
who consents to | ||||||
23 | the communication;
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1 | (iii) Seek consent to communicate privately and | ||||||
2 | without restriction
with any resident , regardless of | ||||||
3 | age ;
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4 | (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of a | ||||||
5 | resident , regardless of age, with the
express written | ||||||
6 | consent of the resident;
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7 | (v) Observe all areas of the long term care | ||||||
8 | facility or supportive
living facilities, assisted | ||||||
9 | living or shared housing establishment except the
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10 | living area of any resident who protests the | ||||||
11 | observation.
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12 | (2) "Long Term Care Facility" means (i) any facility as | ||||||
13 | defined by Section
1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as | ||||||
14 | now or hereafter amended; and (ii) any
skilled nursing | ||||||
15 | facility or a nursing facility which meets the
requirements | ||||||
16 | of Section 1819(a), (b), (c), and (d) or Section 1919(a), | ||||||
17 | (b),
(c), and (d) of the Social Security Act, as now or | ||||||
18 | hereafter amended (42
U.S.C. 1395i-3(a), (b), (c), and (d) | ||||||
19 | and 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a), (b), (c), and
(d)).
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20 | (2.5) "Assisted living establishment" and "shared | ||||||
21 | housing establishment"
have the meanings given those terms | ||||||
22 | in Section 10 of the Assisted Living and
Shared Housing | ||||||
23 | Act.
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24 | (2.7) "Supportive living facility" means a facility | ||||||
25 | established under
Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public | ||||||
26 | Aid Code.
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1 | (3) "State Long Term Care Ombudsman" means any person | ||||||
2 | employed by the
Department to fulfill
the requirements of | ||||||
3 | the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman as
required | ||||||
4 | under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter | ||||||
5 | amended,
and Departmental policy.
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6 | (3.1) "Ombudsman" means any designated representative | ||||||
7 | of a regional long
term care ombudsman program; provided | ||||||
8 | that the representative, whether he is
paid for or | ||||||
9 | volunteers his ombudsman services, shall be qualified and
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10 | designated by the Office to perform the duties of an | ||||||
11 | ombudsman as specified by
the Department in rules and in | ||||||
12 | accordance with the provisions of
the Older Americans Act | ||||||
13 | of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
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14 | (c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care | ||||||
15 | Ombudsman shall
be composed of at least one full-time ombudsman | ||||||
16 | and shall include a system of
designated regional long term | ||||||
17 | care ombudsman programs. Each regional program
shall be | ||||||
18 | designated by the State Long Term Care Ombudsman as a | ||||||
19 | subdivision of
the Office and any representative of a regional | ||||||
20 | program shall be treated as a
representative of the Office.
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21 | The Department, in consultation with the Office, shall | ||||||
22 | promulgate
administrative rules in accordance with the | ||||||
23 | provisions of the Older Americans
Act of 1965, as now or | ||||||
24 | hereafter amended, to establish the responsibilities of
the | ||||||
25 | Department and the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman and | ||||||
26 | the
designated regional Ombudsman programs. The administrative |
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1 | rules shall include
the responsibility of the Office and | ||||||
2 | designated regional programs to
investigate and resolve | ||||||
3 | complaints made by or on behalf of residents of long
term care | ||||||
4 | facilities, supportive living facilities, and assisted living | ||||||
5 | and
shared housing establishments , regardless of the age of the | ||||||
6 | residents, relating to actions, inaction, or
decisions of | ||||||
7 | providers, or their representatives, of long term care
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8 | facilities, of supported living facilities, of assisted living | ||||||
9 | and shared
housing establishments, of public agencies, or of | ||||||
10 | social services agencies,
which may adversely affect the | ||||||
11 | health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
residents.
When | ||||||
12 | necessary and appropriate, representatives of the Office shall | ||||||
13 | refer
complaints to the appropriate regulatory State agency.
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14 | The Department, in consultation with the Office, shall | ||||||
15 | cooperate with the
Department of Human Services in providing | ||||||
16 | information and training to
designated regional long term care | ||||||
17 | ombudsman programs about the appropriate
assessment and | ||||||
18 | treatment (including information about appropriate supportive
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19 | services, treatment options, and assessment of rehabilitation | ||||||
20 | potential) of
persons with mental illness (other than | ||||||
21 | Alzheimer's disease and related
disorders). | ||||||
22 | The State Long Term Care Ombudsman and all other ombudsmen, | ||||||
23 | as defined in paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b) must submit to | ||||||
24 | background checks under the Health Care Worker Background Check | ||||||
25 | Act and receive training, as prescribed by the Illinois | ||||||
26 | Department on Aging, before visiting facilities. The training |
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1 | must include information specific to assisted living | ||||||
2 | establishments, supportive living facilities, and shared | ||||||
3 | housing establishments and to the rights of residents | ||||||
4 | guaranteed under the corresponding Acts and administrative | ||||||
5 | rules.
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6 | (d) Access and visitation rights.
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7 | (1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of | ||||||
8 | paragraph (3) of
subsection (c) of Section 1819
and | ||||||
9 | subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection | ||||||
10 | (c) of Section
1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or | ||||||
11 | hereafter amended (42 U.S.C.
1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E) and | ||||||
12 | 42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and
Section
712 of the | ||||||
13 | Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter
amended | ||||||
14 | (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care facility, supportive | ||||||
15 | living
facility, assisted living
establishment, and shared | ||||||
16 | housing establishment must:
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17 | (i) permit immediate access to any resident , | ||||||
18 | regardless of age, by a designated
ombudsman; and
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19 | (ii) permit representatives of the Office, with | ||||||
20 | the permission of the
resident's legal representative | ||||||
21 | or legal guardian, to examine a resident's
clinical and | ||||||
22 | other records, regardless of the age of the resident, | ||||||
23 | and if a resident is unable to consent to such
review, | ||||||
24 | and has no legal guardian, permit representatives of | ||||||
25 | the Office
appropriate access, as defined by the | ||||||
26 | Department, in consultation with the
Office, in |
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1 | administrative rules, to the resident's records.
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2 | (2) Each long term care facility, supportive living | ||||||
3 | facility, assisted
living establishment, and
shared | ||||||
4 | housing establishment shall display, in multiple, | ||||||
5 | conspicuous
public places within the facility accessible | ||||||
6 | to both visitors and residents and
in an easily readable | ||||||
7 | format, the address and phone number of the Office of the
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8 | Long Term Care Ombudsman, in a manner prescribed by the | ||||||
9 | Office.
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10 | (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any representative of the | ||||||
11 | Office participating
in the good faith performance of his or | ||||||
12 | her official duties
shall have immunity from any liability | ||||||
13 | (civil, criminal or otherwise) in
any proceedings (civil, | ||||||
14 | criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of
the | ||||||
15 | performance of his official duties.
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16 | (f) Business offenses.
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17 | (1) No person shall:
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18 | (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or | ||||||
19 | attempt to impede in any
way any representative of the | ||||||
20 | Office in the performance of his
official
duties under | ||||||
21 | this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965; or
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22 | (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate | ||||||
23 | against, or effect reprisals
against any long term care | ||||||
24 | facility resident or employee for contacting or
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25 | providing information to any representative of the | ||||||
26 | Office.
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1 | (2) A violation of this Section is a business offense, | ||||||
2 | punishable by a
fine not to exceed $501.
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3 | (3) The Director of Aging, in consultation with the | ||||||
4 | Office, shall
notify the State's Attorney of the
county in | ||||||
5 | which the long term care facility, supportive living | ||||||
6 | facility, or
assisted living or shared housing | ||||||
7 | establishment is located,
or the Attorney General, of any | ||||||
8 | violations of this Section.
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9 | (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. The | ||||||
10 | Department shall
establish procedures for the disclosure by the | ||||||
11 | State Ombudsman or the regional
ombudsmen
entities of files | ||||||
12 | maintained by the program. The procedures shall provide that
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13 | the files and records may be disclosed only at the discretion | ||||||
14 | of the State Long
Term Care
Ombudsman or the person designated | ||||||
15 | by the State Ombudsman to disclose the files
and records, and | ||||||
16 | the procedures shall prohibit the disclosure of the identity
of | ||||||
17 | any complainant, resident, witness, or employee of a long term | ||||||
18 | care provider
unless:
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19 | (1) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of | ||||||
20 | a long term care
provider or his or her legal | ||||||
21 | representative consents to the disclosure and the
consent | ||||||
22 | is in writing;
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23 | (2) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of | ||||||
24 | a long term care
provider gives consent orally; and the | ||||||
25 | consent is documented contemporaneously
in writing in
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26 | accordance with such requirements as the Department shall |
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1 | establish; or
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2 | (3) the disclosure is required by court order.
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3 | (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
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4 | provide legal representation to any representative of the | ||||||
5 | Office
against
whom suit or other legal action is brought in | ||||||
6 | connection with the
performance of the representative's | ||||||
7 | official duties, in accordance with the
State Employee | ||||||
8 | Indemnification Act.
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9 | (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in | ||||||
10 | this Act shall
be construed to authorize or require the medical | ||||||
11 | supervision, regulation
or control of remedial care or | ||||||
12 | treatment of any resident in a long term
care facility operated | ||||||
13 | exclusively by and for members or adherents of any
church or | ||||||
14 | religious denomination the tenets and practices of which | ||||||
15 | include
reliance solely upon spiritual means through prayer for | ||||||
16 | healing.
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17 | (Source: P.A. 93-241, eff. 7-22-03; 93-878, eff. 1-1-05.)
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18 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
19 | becoming law.
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