a. “Abuse” means the willful infliction of physical pain, injury, or mental anguish; unreasonable confinement; or the willful deprivation of services which are necessary to maintain a person‘s physical and mental health. However, no person shall be deemed to be abused for the sole reason he is being furnished nonmedical remedial treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone, in accordance with a recognized religious method of healing, in lieu of medical treatment;

b. An “act” of any facility or government agency shall be deemed to include any failure or refusal to act by such facility or government agency;

c. “Administrator” means any person who is charged with the general administration or supervision of a facility, whether or not such person has an ownership interest in such facility, and whether or not such person’s functions and duties are shared with one or more other persons;

d. “Caretaker” means a person employed by a facility to provide care or services to an elderly person, and includes, but is not limited to, the administrator of a facility;

e. “Exploitation” means the act or process of using a person or his resources for another person’s profit or advantage without legal entitlement to do so;

f. “Facility” means any facility or institution, whether public or private, offering health or health related services for the institutionalized elderly, and which is subject to regulation, visitation, inspection, or supervision by any government agency. Facilities include, but are not limited to, nursing homes, skilled nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities, convalescent homes, rehabilitation centers, residential health care facilities, dementia care homes, special hospitals, veterans’ hospitals, chronic disease hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, mental hospitals, developmental centers or facilities, continuing care retirement communities, including independent living sections thereof, day care facilities for the elderly and medical day care centers;

g. “Government agency” means any department, division, office, bureau, board, commission, authority, or any other agency or instrumentality created by the State or to which the State is a party, or by any county or municipality, which is responsible for the regulation, visitation, inspection, or supervision of facilities, or which provides services to patients, residents, or clients of facilities;

h. “Guardian” means any person with the legal right to manage the financial affairs and protect the rights of any patient, resident, or client of a facility, who has been declared an incapacitated person by a court of competent jurisdiction;

i. “Long-term care resident,” “elderly” or “elderly person” means any person 60 years of age or older, who is a patient, resident, or client of any facility;

j. “Office” means the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman established herein;

k. “State Long-Term Care Ombudsman” means the administrator and chief executive officer of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman;

l. “Patient, resident or client” means any elderly person who is receiving treatment or care in any facility in all its aspects, including, but not limited to, admission, retention, confinement, commitment, period of residence, transfer, discharge, and any instances directly related to such status.

L.1977, c.239, s.2; amended 1983, c.43, s.1; 1997, c.379, s.9; 2010, c.50, s.79; 2013, c.167, s.10; 2015, c.125, s.11; 2017, c.131, s.201.