Public Act 93-0372
SB40 Enrolled LRB093 03840 LRD 03875 b
AN ACT concerning emergency services.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
Act is amended by changing Section 32.5 as follows:
(210 ILCS 50/32.5)
Sec. 32.5. Freestanding Emergency Center; demonstration
program.
(a) The Department shall issue an annual Freestanding
Emergency Center (FEC) license to any facility that:
(1) is located: (i)(A) in a municipality with a
population of 75,000 60,000 or fewer inhabitants; (B)
within 15 miles of the hospital that owns or controls the
FEC; and (C) within 10 miles of the Resource Hospital
affiliated with the FEC as part of the EMS System; or
(ii) either (A) in a municipality that has a hospital
that has been providing emergency services but is
expected to close by the end of 1997 and or (B) in a
county with a population of more than 350,000 but less
than 525,000 500,000 inhabitants; (iii) within 15 miles
of the hospital that owns or controls the FEC; and (iv)
within 10 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 BLS runs by
emergency medical vehicles according to protocols
developed by the Resource Hospital within the FEC's
designated EMS System and approved by the Project 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) maintains helicopter landing capabilities
approved by appropriate State and federal authorities;
(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 a certificate of need or
other permit issued by the Illinois Health Facilities
Planning Board indicating that the facility that will
house the proposed FEC complies with State health
planning laws; provided, however, that the Illinois
Health Facilities Planning Board shall waive this
certificate of need or permit requirement for any
proposed FEC that, as of the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1996, meets the criteria for providing
comprehensive emergency treatment services, as defined by
the rules promulgated under the Hospital Licensing Act,
but is not a licensed hospital;
(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; and.
(18) participated in the demonstration program.
(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.
(c) The FEC demonstration program shall be conducted for
an initial review period concluding on September 1, 2001.
If, by that date, the Department determines that the
demonstration program is operating in a manner consistent
with the purposes of this Act, the program shall continue and
sunset on September 1, 2003. The Department shall submit a
report concerning the effectiveness of the demonstration
program to the General Assembly by September 1, 2002.
An FEC license issued pursuant to this Section shall
expire upon the termination of the demonstration program.
(Source: P.A. 90-67, eff. 7-8-97; 91-385, eff. 7-30-99.)