CHAPTER 199
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 23
AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1 AND
SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE TO ESTABLISH THE DELAWARE NURSING HOME RESIDENTS QUALITY ASSURANCE COMMISSION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :
Section 1. Amend § 7907 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code by deleting this section in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Ҥ7907. Delaware Nursing Home Residents Quality Assurance Commission.
(a) There is established a Delaware Nursing Home Resident’s Quality Assurance Commission. The Commission shall be composed of ten members, as follows:
(1) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House;
(2) One member appointed by the President Pro-Tem of the Senate;
(3) Eight members appointed by the Governor. One of the members appointed by the Governor shall be a representative of the developmental disabilities community protection and advocacy system established by Title 20 of the United States Code. The remaining members shall include representatives of the following: consumers of nursing home services, nursing home providers, health care professionals, law enforcement personnel and advocates for the elderly. One of the Governor’s initial appointees shall have been a member of the Council on Long Term Care Facilities.
(b) At least five but no more than six members of the Commission shall be affiliated with one of the major political parties and at least four, but no more than five, of the members shall be affiliated with the other major political party; provided, however, there shall be no more than a bare majority representation of one major political party over the other major political party. Membership on the Commission shall be geographically distributed so that there shall be members of the Commission from each of the three counties and the City of Wilmington.
(c) The members appointed by the Speaker and the President Pro-Tem shall serve at the pleasure of their appointing authorities. Initial appointments of the members appointed by the Governor shall be as follows: 2 members for a one year term; 3 members for a two year term; and 3 members for a three year term. Each succeeding term shall be for three years. The Chairperson of the Commission shall be designated by the Governor.
(d) The Division of Long-Term Care Resident Protection shall furnish staff for the Commission and the Attorney General’s office shall provide legal advice.
(e) The purpose of this Commission is to monitor Delaware’s quality assurance system for nursing home residents in both privately operated and state operated facilities so that complaints of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, financial exploitation and other complaints are responded to in a timely manner so as to ensure the health and safety of nursing home residents.
(f) The Commission shall meet at a minimum, on a quarterly basis.
(g) The duties of the Commission shall include:
(1) Examination of policies and procedures and evaluation of the effectiveness of the quality assurance system for nursing home residents, including the respective roles of the Department, the Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement agencies as well as health care professionals and nursing home providers.
(2) The monitoring of data and analysis of trends in the quality of care and quality of life of individuals receiving long term care in Delaware;
(3) The review and making of recommendations to the Governor, Secretary, and the General Assembly concerning the quality assurance system as well as improvements to the overall quality of life and quality of care of nursing home residents.
(4) The protection of the privacy of nursing home residents including following the guidelines for confidentiality of records to be established by the Division of Long-Term Care Resident Protection.
(h) The Commission shall prepare and publish an annual report to the Governor, the Secretary and the General Assembly. This annual report shall include aggregate data with comprehensive analysis and monitoring of trends in the quality of care and quality of life of nursing home residents.”