HB5359eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5359 Engrossed LRB095 17316 DRJ 46169 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by changing Section 4.5 as follows:

(210 ILCS 85/4.5)

Sec. 4.5. Hospital with multiple locations; single license.

(a) A hospital located in a county with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants may apply to the Department for approval to conduct its operations from more than one location within the county under a single license.

(a-5) A hospital located in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants may apply to the Department for approval to conduct its operations from more than one hospital within the county under a single license if the distance between each hospital to be combined under one license is no more than one-half mile and both hospitals were operated by a single health system on January 1, 2008.

(b) The facilities or buildings at those locations must be owned or operated together by a single corporation or other legal entity serving as the licensee and must share:

(1) a single board of directors with responsibility for governance, including financial oversight and the authority to designate or remove the chief executive officer;

(2) a single medical staff accountable to the board of directors and governed by a single set of medical staff bylaws, rules, and regulations with responsibility for the quality of the medical services; and

(3) a single chief executive officer, accountable to the board of directors, with management responsibility.

(c) Each hospital building or facility that is located on a site geographically separate from the campus or premises of another hospital building or facility operated by the licensee must, at a minimum, individually comply with the Department's hospital licensing requirements for emergency services.

(d) The hospital shall submit to the Department a comprehensive plan in relation to the waiver or waivers requested describing the services and operations of each facility or building and how common services or operations will be coordinated between the various locations. With the exception of items required by subsection (c), the Department is authorized to waive compliance with the hospital licensing requirements for specific buildings or facilities, provided that the hospital has documented which other building or facility under its single license provides that service or operation, and that doing so would not endanger the public's health, safety, or welfare. Nothing in this Section relieves a hospital from the requirements of the Health Facilities Planning Act.

(e) Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, however, the Governor believes that rules are necessary to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to the General Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the jurisdiction of the Governor.

(Source: P.A. 89-171, eff. 7-19-95.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.