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1     AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
5 changing Section 4.04 as follows:
 
6     (20 ILCS 105/4.04)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
7     Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
8     (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department shall
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.
13     (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
14 context requires otherwise:
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:
18             (i) Enter any long term care facility or assisted
19         living or shared housing establishment or supportive
20         living facility;
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;
4             (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of a
5         resident, regardless of age, with the express written
6         consent of the resident;
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
10         living area of any resident who protests the
11         observation.
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)).
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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, including the option to
6 serve residents under the age of 60, relating to actions,
7 inaction, or decisions of providers, or their representatives,
8 of long term care facilities, of supported living facilities,
9 of assisted living and shared housing establishments, of public
10 agencies, or of social services agencies, which may adversely
11 affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
12 residents. The Office and designated regional programs may
13 represent all residents, but are not required by this Act to
14 represent persons under 60 years of age, except to the extent
15 required by federal law. When necessary and appropriate,
16 representatives of the Office shall refer complaints to the
17 appropriate regulatory State agency. The Department, in
18 consultation with the Office, shall cooperate with the
19 Department of Human Services and other State agencies in
20 providing information and training to designated regional long
21 term care ombudsman programs about the appropriate assessment
22 and treatment (including information about appropriate
23 supportive services, treatment options, and assessment of
24 rehabilitation potential) of the residents they serve,
25 including children, persons with mental illness (other than
26 Alzheimer's disease and related disorders), and persons with

 

 

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1 developmental disabilities.
2     The State Long Term Care Ombudsman and all other ombudsmen,
3 as defined in paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b) must submit to
4 background checks under the Health Care Worker Background Check
5 Act and receive training, as prescribed by the Illinois
6 Department on Aging, before visiting facilities. The training
7 must include information specific to assisted living
8 establishments, supportive living facilities, and shared
9 housing establishments and to the rights of residents
10 guaranteed under the corresponding Acts and administrative
11 rules.
12     (d) Access and visitation rights.
13         (1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of
14     paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1819 and
15     subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection
16     (c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or
17     hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E) and
18     42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section 712 of the
19     Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter amended
20     (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care facility, supportive
21     living facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
22     housing establishment must:
23             (i) permit immediate access to any resident,
24         regardless of age, by a designated ombudsman; and
25             (ii) permit representatives of the Office, with
26         the permission of the resident's legal representative

 

 

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1         or legal guardian, to examine a resident's clinical and
2         other records, regardless of the age of the resident,
3         and if a resident is unable to consent to such review,
4         and has no legal guardian, permit representatives of
5         the Office appropriate access, as defined by the
6         Department, in consultation with the Office, in
7         administrative rules, to the resident's records.
8         (2) Each long term care facility, supportive living
9     facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
10     housing establishment shall display, in multiple,
11     conspicuous public places within the facility accessible
12     to both visitors and residents and in an easily readable
13     format, the address and phone number of the Office of the
14     Long Term Care Ombudsman, in a manner prescribed by the
15     Office.
16     (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any representative of the
17 Office participating in the good faith performance of his or
18 her official duties shall have immunity from any liability
19 (civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings (civil,
20 criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of the
21 performance of his official duties.
22     (f) Business offenses.
23         (1) No person shall:
24             (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or
25         attempt to impede in any way any representative of the
26         Office in the performance of his official duties under

 

 

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1         this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965; or
2             (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate
3         against, or effect reprisals against any long term care
4         facility resident or employee for contacting or
5         providing information to any representative of the
6         Office.
7         (2) A violation of this Section is a business offense,
8     punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
9         (3) The Director of Aging, in consultation with the
10     Office, shall notify the State's Attorney of the county in
11     which the long term care facility, supportive living
12     facility, or assisted living or shared housing
13     establishment is located, or the Attorney General, of any
14     violations of this Section.
15     (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. The
16 Department shall establish procedures for the disclosure by the
17 State Ombudsman or the regional ombudsmen entities of files
18 maintained by the program. The procedures shall provide that
19 the files and records may be disclosed only at the discretion
20 of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman or the person designated
21 by the State Ombudsman to disclose the files and records, and
22 the procedures shall prohibit the disclosure of the identity of
23 any complainant, resident, witness, or employee of a long term
24 care provider unless:
25         (1) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
26     a long term care provider or his or her legal

 

 

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1     representative consents to the disclosure and the consent
2     is in writing;
3         (2) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
4     a long term care provider gives consent orally; and the
5     consent is documented contemporaneously in writing in
6     accordance with such requirements as the Department shall
7     establish; or
8         (3) the disclosure is required by court order.
9     (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
10 provide legal representation to any representative of the
11 Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
12 connection with the performance of the representative's
13 official duties, in accordance with the State Employee
14 Indemnification Act.
15     (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
16 this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the medical
17 supervision, regulation or control of remedial care or
18 treatment of any resident in a long term care facility operated
19 exclusively by and for members or adherents of any church or
20 religious denomination the tenets and practices of which
21 include reliance solely upon spiritual means through prayer for
22 healing.
23 (Source: P.A. 93-241, eff. 7-22-03; 93-878, eff. 1-1-05.)
 
24     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25 becoming law.