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90_HB2758enr
20 ILCS 105/4.04 from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04
Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Requires each long
term care facility to display, in multiple, conspicuous
public places within the facility accessible to both visitors
and patients and in an easily readable format (now in a
public place within the facility), the address and phone
number of the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman.
LRB9010079MWpcA
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1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Act on the Aging by changing
2 Section 4.04.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
6 changing Section 4.04 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 105/4.04) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
8 Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
9 (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department
10 shall establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through
11 the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"),
12 in accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
13 of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
14 (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
15 context requires otherwise:
16 (1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section 1-104 of
17 the Nursing Home Care Act, as now or hereafter amended; that
18 is, it means the right to:
19 (i) Enter any long term care facility;
20 (ii) Communicate privately and without restriction with
21 any resident who consents to the communication;
22 (iii) Seek consent to communicate privately and without
23 restriction with any resident;
24 (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of a
25 resident with the express written consent of the resident;
26 (v) Observe all areas of the long term care facility
27 except the living area of any resident who protests the
28 observation.
29 (2) "Long Term Care Facility" means any facility as
30 defined by Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as now
31 or hereafter amended.
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1 (3) "Ombudsman" means any person employed by the
2 Department to fulfill the requirements of the Office, or any
3 representative of a sub-State long term care ombudsman
4 program; provided that the representative, whether he is paid
5 for or volunteers his ombudsman services, shall be qualified
6 and authorized by the Department to perform the duties of an
7 ombudsman as specified by the Department in rules.
8 (c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care
9 Ombudsman shall be composed of at least one full-time
10 ombudsman within the Department and shall include a system of
11 designated sub-State long term care ombudsman programs. Each
12 sub-State program shall be designated by the Department as a
13 subdivision of the Office and any representative of a
14 sub-State program shall be treated as a representative of the
15 Office.
16 The Department shall promulgate administrative rules to
17 establish the responsibilities of the Department and the
18 Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman. The administrative
19 rules shall include the responsibility of the Office to
20 investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of
21 residents of long term care facilities relating to actions,
22 inaction, or decisions of providers, or their
23 representatives, of long term care facilities, of public
24 agencies, or of social services agencies, which may adversely
25 affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
26 residents. When necessary and appropriate, representatives of
27 the Office shall refer complaints to the appropriate
28 regulatory State agency.
29 (d) Access and visitation rights. (1) In accordance with
30 subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection (c)
31 of Section 1819 and subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph
32 (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security
33 Act, as now or hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A)
34 and (E) and 42 U.S.C. 1396r-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section
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1 307(a)(12) of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or
2 hereafter amended, a long term care facility must:
3 (i) permit immediate access to any resident by an
4 ombudsman; and
5 (ii) permit representatives of the Office, with the
6 permission of the resident's legal representative or legal
7 guardian, to examine a resident's clinical and other records,
8 and if a resident is unable to consent to such review, and
9 has no legal guardian, permit representatives of the Office
10 appropriate access, as defined by the Department in
11 administrative rules, to the resident's records.
12 (2) Each long term care facility shall display, in
13 multiple, conspicuous a public places place within the
14 facility accessible to both visitors and patients and in an
15 easily readable format, the address and phone number of the
16 Office, in a manner prescribed by the Office.
17 (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any other representative
18 of the Office participating in the good faith performance of
19 his or her official duties shall have immunity from any
20 liability (civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings
21 (civil, criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of
22 the performance of his official duties.
23 (f) Business offenses. (1) No person shall:
24 (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or attempt to
25 impede in any way any representative of the Office in the
26 performance of his official duties under this Act and the
27 Older Americans Act of 1965; or
28 (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate against, or
29 effect reprisals against any long term care facility resident
30 or employee for contacting or providing information to any
31 representative of the Office.
32 (2) A violation of this Section is a business offense,
33 punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
34 (3) The Director of Aging shall notify the State's
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1 Attorney of the county in which the long term care facility
2 is located, or the Attorney General, of any violations of
3 this Section.
4 (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. No files
5 or records maintained by the Office of State Long Term Care
6 Ombudsman shall be disclosed unless the State Ombudsman or
7 the ombudsman having the authority over the disposition of
8 such files authorizes the disclosure in writing. The
9 ombudsman shall not disclose the identity of any complainant,
10 resident, witness or employee of a long term care provider
11 involved in a complaint or report unless such person or such
12 person's guardian or legal representative consents in writing
13 to the disclosure, or the disclosure is required by court
14 order.
15 (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
16 provide legal representation to any representative of the
17 Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
18 connection with the performance of the representative's
19 official duties, in accordance with "An Act to provide for
20 representation and indemnification in certain civil law
21 suits", approved December 3, 1977, as now or hereafter
22 amended.
23 (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
24 this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the
25 medical supervision, regulation or control of remedial care
26 or treatment of any resident in a long term care facility
27 operated exclusively by and for members or adherents of any
28 church or religious denomination the tenets and practices of
29 which include reliance solely upon spiritual means through
30 prayer for healing.
31 (Source: P.A. 86-154.)