Virginia Code 32.1-132: Alterations or additions to hospitals and nursing homes; when new license required; use of inpatient hospital beds for furnishing skilled care services.
A. Any person who desires to make any substantial alteration or addition to or any material change in any hospital or nursing home shall, before making such change, alteration or addition, submit the proposal therefor to the Commissioner for his approval. The Commissioner shall review the proposal to determine compliance with applicable statutes and regulations of the Board and as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable notify the person that the proposal is or is not approved.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 32.1-132
- Certified nursing facility: means any skilled nursing facility, skilled care facility, intermediate care facility, nursing or nursing care facility, or nursing home, whether freestanding or a portion of a freestanding medical care facility, that is certified as a Medicare or Medicaid provider, or both, pursuant to § Virginia Code 32.1-123
- Hospital: means any facility licensed pursuant to this article in which the primary function is the provision of diagnosis, of treatment, and of medical and nursing services, surgical or nonsurgical, for two or more nonrelated individuals, including hospitals known by varying nomenclature or designation such as children's hospitals, sanatoriums, sanitariums and general, acute, rehabilitation, chronic disease, short-term, long-term, outpatient surgical, and inpatient or outpatient maternity hospitals. See Virginia Code 32.1-123
- Nursing home: means any facility or any identifiable component of any facility licensed pursuant to this article in which the primary function is the provision, on a continuing basis, of nursing services and health-related services for the treatment and inpatient care of two or more nonrelated individuals, including facilities known by varying nomenclature or designation such as convalescent homes, skilled nursing facilities or skilled care facilities, intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities and nursing or nursing care facilities. See Virginia Code 32.1-123
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, or association or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 32.1-3
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. If any such alteration, addition or change has the effect of changing the bed capacity or classification of the hospital or nursing home, the licensee shall obtain a new license for the remainder of the license year before beginning operation of additional beds or in the new classification.
C. Notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary, any hospital, after sending such written notice as may be required by the Commissioner, may utilize, for a period not to exceed thirty days for any one patient, a maximum of ten percent of its inpatient hospital beds as swing beds for the furnishing of services of the type which, if furnished by a nursing home or certified nursing facility, would constitute skilled care services without complying with nursing home licensure requirements or retaining the services of a licensed nursing home administrator. Such hospital shall amend its plan of care and implement its plan as amended to ensure the overall well-being of patients occupying such beds. Only those hospitals which qualify under § 1883 of Title XVIII and § 1913 of Title XIX of the Social Security Act and are certified as skilled nursing facilities may be reimbursed for such services for Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Code 1950, § 32-305; 1979, c. 711; 1983, c. 533; 1989, c. 618.