Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
General provisions.
Critical care and special care services are those
services which are organized and provided for patients requiring care on a
concentrated or continuous basis to meet special health care needs. Each
service shall be provided with a concentration of professional staff and
supportive services that are appropriate to the scope of services
provided.
(1) The direction of each
service, unless otherwise specified in this section, shall be provided by a
designated member of the medical staff who has received special training and
has demonstrated competence in the service related to the care
provided.
(2) The provision of all
critical care and special care services shall be in accordance with generally
accepted standards of medical practice. The hospital shall ensure that written
policies are developed by the medical staff and the nursing service and
implemented for all special care and critical care services.
(i) The written policies and procedures shall
be reviewed at least annually and revised as necessary and shall include at a
minimum the following: infection control protocols, safety practices,
admission/discharge protocols and an organized program for monitoring the
quality and appropriateness of patient care, with identified problems reported
to the hospital- wide quality assurance program and resolved.
(ii) The written protocols for patient
admission to and discharge from a critical care or special care unit shall
include:
(a) criteria for priority
admissions;
(b) alternatives for
providing specialized patient care to those patients who require such care but
who, due to lack of space, or other specified reasons such as infection or
contagious disease, are not eligible for admission according to unit policy;
and
(c) guidelines for the timely
transfer and referral of patients who require services that are not provided by
the unit.
(3)
Each critical care unit shall be organized as a physically and functionally
distinct entity within the hospital.
(i)
Access shall be controlled in order to regulate traffic, including visitors, in
the interest of infection control.
(ii) Emergency equipment and an emergency
cart within each unit shall contain appropriate drugs and equipment, as
determined by the medical staff and pharmacy service.
(4) When critical or special care services
are provided to pediatric patients, opportunities shall be provided for
education, socialization, and play pertinent to the growth and development
needs of these patients, unless medically contraindicated.
(5) Minimum nurse to patient ratios for
intensive care and critical care patients. There shall be a minimum of one
registered professional nurse assigned to care for every two patients that an
attending practitioner determines to require intensive or critical care.
(i) The minimum registered professional
nurse-to-patient ratio set forth in this subdivision shall apply whenever the
attending practitioner determines that the condition and medical needs of the
patient requires admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) or critical care
unit (CCU), and considers the continued need for that level of care based on
ongoing assessments. The minimum staffing standard or ratio provided to a
patient in an ICU or CCU shall be based on patient acuity, as determined by the
attending practitioner and not solely based on the location of the
patient.
(ii) The minimum staffing
requirements of this subdivision shall not apply to a patient when:
(a) the attending practitioner has determined
that a patient in the ICU or CCU no longer requires intensive or critical care
or the patient is awaiting transfer to a lower level of care unit; or
(b) a patient is placed in the ICU or CCU
when an acute care or other inpatient service bed is not available and the
attending practitioner has determined that the patient in the ICU or CCU does
not require intensive or critical care;
(iii) Complaints of potential violations of
this subdivision shall be made to the clinical staffing committee. Complaints
of potential violations of this subdivision, that have first been submitted to
the clinical staffing committee, may be made to the department if they remain
unresolved by the clinical staffing committee after 90 days have
elapsed.
(b)
Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) services.
(1) Definitions.
(i)
PICU. A
PICU is a physically separate unit that provides intensive
care to pediatric patients (infants, children and adolescents) who are
critically ill or injured. A PICU must be staffed by qualified practitioners
competent to care for critically ill or injured pediatric patients.
(ii)
Qualified practitioner.
Qualified practitioner as referred to in this section shall
mean a practitioner functioning within his or her scope of practice according
to State Education Law who meets the hospital's criteria for competence,
credentialing and privileging practitioners in the management of critically ill
or injured pediatric patients.
(2) General.
(i) A PICU must be approved by the
department. The governing body of a hospital that provides PICU services must
develop written policies and procedures for operation of the PICU in accordance
with generally accepted standards of medical care for critically ill or injured
pediatric patients. The PICU shall:
(a)
provide multidisciplinary definitive care for a wide range of complex,
progressive, and rapidly changing medical, surgical, and traumatic disorders
occurring in pediatric patients;
(b) have a minimum average annual pediatric
patient number of 200/year;
(c)
have age and size appropriate equipment available in the unit; and
(d) provide medical oversight for
interhospital transfers of critically ill or injured patients during transfer
to the receiving PICU.
(ii) Organization and Direction. The PICU
shall be directed by a board certified pediatric medical, surgical, or
anesthesiology critical care/intensivist physician who shall be responsible for
the organization and delivery of PICU care and has specialized training and
demonstrated competence in pediatric critical care. Such physician in
conjunction with the nursing leadership responsible for the PICU shall
participate in administrative aspects of the PICU. Such responsibilities shall
include development and annual review of PICU policies and procedures,
oversight of patient care, quality improvement activities, and staff training
and development.
(a) All hospitals with PICUs
must have a physician, notwithstanding emergency department staffing, in-house
24 hours per day who is available to provide bedside care to patients in the
PICU. Such physician shall be at least a post graduate year three in pediatrics
or anesthesiology. This physician must be skilled in and be credentialed by the
hospital to provide emergency care to critically ill or injured
children.
(b) The PICU shall have,
at a minimum, a physician at the level of post graduate year two or above
and/or physician assistant and/or nurse practitioner with specialized training
in pediatric critical/intensive care assigned to the unit 24 hours/day, 7
days/week with an attending pediatric, medical, surgical or anesthesiology
critical care/intensivist available within 60 minutes.
(c) An attending pediatric medical, surgical,
or anesthesiology critical care/intensivist physician shall be responsible for
the oversight of patient care at all times.
(d) The PICU shall provide registered
professional nursing staffing sufficient to meet critically ill or injured
pediatric patient needs, ensure patient safety and provide quality care, and
that meets the ICU clinical staffing plan requirements in subdivision (c) of
this section.
(e) PICU physician
and nursing staff shall have successfully completed a course and be current in
pediatric advanced life support (PALS) or have current equivalent training
and/or experience to PALS.
(iii) Quality performance. The hospital shall
have an organized quality assessment performance improvement (QAPI) program for
PICU services. Such program shall require participation by all clinical members
of the PICU team and include: monitoring of volume and outcomes, morbidity and
all case mortality review, regular multidisciplinary conferences including all
health professionals involved in the care of PICU patients.
(iv) Closure. Failure to meet one or more
regulatory requirements or inactivity in a program for a period of 12 months or
more may result in actions, including, but not limited to, the department's
withdrawal of approval for the hospital to serve as a PICU.
(v) Voluntary closure. The hospital must give
written notification, including a closure plan acceptable to the department, at
least 90 days prior to planned discontinuance of PICU services. No PICU shall
discontinue operation without first obtaining written approval from the
department.
(vi) Notification of
significant changes. A hospital must notify the department in writing within
seven days of any significant changes in its PICU services, including, but not
limited to:
(a) any temporary or permanent
suspension of services; or
(b)
difficulty meeting staffing or workload
requirements.
(d)
Burn unit/center.
(1) Personnel and staffing.
(i) A burn unit/center shall designate a
director who is a board-certified or board-admissible general or plastic
surgeon with one additional year of specialized training in burn therapy or
equivalent experience in burn patient care.
(ii) Staff for the burn unit/center shall be
in accordance with the annual clinical staffing plan established under
paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of section
405.5 of this Title and shall
include:
(a) a head nurse of the facility who
is a registered professional nurse, with two years intensive care unit or
equivalent training and a minimum of six months burn experience;
(b) one registered professional nurse for
every two intensive care patients at all times;
(c) one registered professional nurse for
every three nonintensive care patients at all times;
(d) on staff, or through formal arrangement,
a physical therapist and occupational therapist with a minimum of three months
training or six months experience in burn treatment available as
needed;
(e) staff or through formal
arrangement a registered dietician available as needed;
(f) on staff, or through formal arrangement,
a medical social worker responsible for referral and follow-up care and
individual and group counseling available as needed; and
(g) a psychologist and/or psychiatrist
available as needed.
(iii) The burn unit/center shall be
responsible for training facility staff and other personnel within the service
area on emergency treatment procedures, assessment of total body surface area
affected, and the classification of burns and triage
protocols.
(2) Operation
and service delivery.
(i) Each burn
unit/center shall have a minimum of six beds.
(ii) Each burn unit/center shall treat a
minimum of 50 patients with major burn injury to moderate uncomplicated burn
injury per year.
(iii) The burn
unit/center shall refer patients for whom there are no available beds to
another burn unit/center which can provide the care needed.
(iv) Each burn unit/center shall have
available, either through direct control or through a network of clearly
identified relationships, a system of land and/or air transport which will
bring severe burn victims to the unit/center.
(v) Each burn unit/center shall have a
designated area for providing specialized intensive care and an operating room
easily accessible within the hospital.
(vi) Reviews of each patient with major burn
injury or moderate uncomplicated burn injury shall be undertaken on a weekly
basis by the burn care team.
(e)
Alternate level of care.
(1) Organization and staffing.
(i) Patients on each service of the hospital
who have been assigned alternate level of care status shall be congregated on a
single care unit when there are 10 or more such persons on the service.
Patients for whom discharge is anticipated within 14 days and patients whose
identified needs cannot be safely and effectively met on this unit need not be
transferred to the congregate unit and shall not be counted in the 10-patient
threshold.
(ii) If the hospital can
demonstrate to the department that it can fully meet the needs of patients
assigned alternate level of care status without congregating such patients, it
may provide such services in accordance with a plan approved by the department
in lieu of meeting the requirements of subparagraph (i) of this
paragraph.
(iii) The hospital shall
appoint a staff person who has administrative responsibility for the delivery
of patient care services to patients assigned alternate level of care status
and for the supervision of the services whether or not they are provided by
congregate care units.
(iv) The
appointed staff person shall monitor and evaluate the quality and
appropriateness of care provided to alternate level of care patients and shall
ensure that identified problems are resolved and are reported, as appropriate,
to the hospital-wide quality assurance program.
(2) Delivery of services.
(i) The hospital shall provide each patient
assigned to alternate level of care status care and services in accordance with
a multidisciplinary assessment of needs in order to promote the patient's
independence and health.
(a) A written
individualized, comprehensive care plan based upon the patient's assessed needs
shall include, but not be limited to:
(1)
medical and nursing care;
(2)
assistance and/or supervision, when required, with activities of daily living,
such as toileting, feeding, ambulation, bathing including routine skin care,
care of hair and nails, and oral hygiene;
(3) rehabilitation therapy services as the
patient's needs indicate;
(4) an
activities program appropriate to the needs and interests of each patient to
sustain physical and psychosocial functioning; and
(5) other clinical care and supportive
services to meet the needs of patients.
(b) The written individualized comprehensive
care plan shall be developed and implemented by all of the qualified
professionals whose services are required by the patient under the supervision
and coordination of the patient's attending physician and with the involvement
of the patient and the family to the extent possible, in accordance with the
patient's wishes.
(c) The
comprehensive care plan shall establish realistic and measurable goals for
short- and long-term care needs, and shall identify the type, amount and
frequency of care and services needed to maintain, restore and/or promote the
patient's functioning and health within stated time frames for
achievement.
(f)
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS) centers.
(1) Definition.
An AIDS center shall mean a hospital
approved by the commissioner pursuant to Part 710 of this Title as a provider
of designated, comprehensive and coordinated services for AIDS patients in
accordance with the requirements of this section. These services shall include
inpatient, outpatient, community and support services for the screening,
diagnosis, treatment, care and follow-up of patients with
AIDS.
(2) Administrative
requirements.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) integrated and comprehensive services are
provided onsite to include, as a minimum, the following:
(a) a designated patient care unit for AIDS
patients, except that the commissioner may waive this requirement, under a plan
acceptable to the commissioner for placing patients in other than a designated
unit, if the AIDS center meets all other requirements of this section and the
hospital can demonstrate:
(1) that it is
unable, due to structural or space limitations, to place the AIDS patients in a
designated unit; or
(2) specific
programmatic or operational reasons why it is preferable not to use a
designated unit or not practicable to have a designated unit for AIDS
patients;
(b) an
outpatient clinic program for screening, diagnostic and treatment services for
AIDS patients; and
(c) emergency
services, available 24 hours a day, for treatment of AIDS
patients;
(ii) other
health care services, as appropriate, are provided directly or through contract
for AIDS patients, to include at least the following:
(a) home health care, provided through a home
care services agency licensed or certified under article 36 of the Public
Health Law, made available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and
(b) personal care
services;
(iii) all
reasonable efforts are made to provide or arrange for the following services
and programs to meet the needs of the AIDS patients:
(a) residential health care;
(b) hospice services provided through a
hospice certified under article 40 of the Public Health Law; and
(c) residential living programs;
(iv) diagnostic and therapeutic
radiology services and other specialized services are made available to meet
the needs of AIDS patients;
(v)
inservice education programs which address the medical, psychological and
social needs specific to AIDS patients are conducted for all hospital personnel
caring for AIDS inpatients;
(vi)
infection control policies and procedures pertinent to AIDS are developed and
implemented as an integral part of the hospital-wide infection control
program;
(vii) a quality assurance
program, which includes a review of the appropriateness of care for patients
with AIDS, is developed and implemented as an integral part of the overall
quality assurance program;
(viii)
at the request of the department, it shall participate in clinical research
programs approved by the hospital's institutional review board/human research
review committee;
(ix) resource
information about AIDS shall be available to the public, and educational
programs are provided for particular high-risk populations in their service
area; and
(x) a crisis intervention
program shall be made available in coordination with other existing community
services.
(3) Patient
referral, admission and discharge.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) policies and procedures are developed and
implemented which address admission criteria for AIDS patients, referral
mechanisms and coordinated discharge planning;
(ii) only patients who meet the admission
criteria for AIDS are admitted to the designated patient care unit;
(iii) services which the center provide are
available to all persons regardless of age, race, color, creed, sex, sexual
orientation, disability, national origin or ability to pay;
(iv) there are transfer agreements in effect
with other hospitals in accordance with section
400.9 of this Title for the
acceptance of referrals or the transfer of AIDS patients in need of specialized
services available at the center; and
(v) professional staff responsible for
planning patient discharges, referrals or transfers shall have available
current information regarding home care programs, institutional health care
providers and other support services within the hospital's primary service
area.
(4) Patient
management plan.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) a multidisciplinary team, whose
composition reflects inpatient and outpatient care services, operating in
conjunction with the attending physician:
(a)
shall be responsible for each AIDS patient;
(b) shall include, as appropriate to the
needs of the AIDS patient, health care professionals from nursing, nutritional,
mental health and social work services; and
(c) whenever practicable, the AIDS patient is
assigned to the same multidisciplinary team;
(ii) a comprehensive patient management plan
is developed by the multidisciplinary professional team, the patient, and when
appropriate, home health care or other nonacute long-term care representatives,
in consultation with the patient's family and other individuals with
significant personal ties to the patients, which:
(a) shall reflect the ongoing psychological,
social, functional and financial needs of the patient and is oriented to
posthospital, ambulatory care and community support services;
(b) shall be based on the patient's illness,
prescribed treatments and the individual patient's needs and choices;
(c) shall be reviewed and updated to reflect
the patient's changing needs and current status;
(d) shall include transfer or discharge and
follow-up plans coordinated by the multidisciplinary team or the case
manager;
(e) shall be forwarded
with the patient upon discharge or transfer for posthospital care;
and
(f) shall evaluate the extent
to which the patient or patient's personal support system can provide or
arrange to provide for identified care needs of the patient in the home
situation;
(iii) a case
manager shall be designated from the multidisciplinary team to be responsible
for coordinating the health care services and plan for each AIDS patient;
and
(iv) a mechanism shall be
established to assure periodic reviews and updates of the patient management
plan in conjunction with other agencies involved with, or responsible for, the
care of the AIDS patient.
(5) Medical director.
The hospital shall appoint a physician who:
(i) shall be a qualified physician with
special training in infectious diseases, oncology or other appropriate
subspecialty;
(ii) shall direct and
coordinate all medical services provided in the AIDS center;
(iii) shall ensure the implementation of the
quality assurance program as specified in subparagraph (2)(vii) of this
subdivision;
(iv) shall ensure that
all members of the health care team participate in the quality assurance
program;
(v) shall ensure that
interdisciplinary rounds that include the health care professionals responsible
for the patient's total care are made on a timely and sufficiently frequent
basis as determined by each patient's needs;
(vi) shall ensure that other qualified
physician specialists are available for consultation as indicated by the
patient's condition; and
(vii)
shall ensure that routine dental services are available for AIDS
patients.
(6) Quality
assurance monitoring.
(i) The commissioner
shall monitor and evaluate the quality and appropriateness of care provided to
AIDS patients by the AIDS center through mechanisms which include, but are not
limited to, the monitoring and evaluation of patient management plans,
utilization reviews and quality assurance programs.
(ii) The department and its AIDS Institute
shall develop criteria for assessing the effectiveness of AIDS centers in
providing care that meets the special needs of AIDS patients.
(7) Construction requirements.
The designated patient care unit shall be a discrete unit
which complies with the requirements of section 712.2 of this Title, except as
modified by the following:
(i) maximum
patient room capacity shall be two beds, except that more than two beds per
room may be allowed under a protocol based on patient diagnosis and approved by
the commissioner;
(ii) patient room
temperature shall be capable of being maintained between 70 and 80°F.
Individual room air-conditioning units may be used; and
(iii) each patient care unit shall have at
least one functional dayroom with space commensurate with the needs of the
patients.
(g)
Comprehensive and extended screening and monitoring services for
epilepsy.
(1) Definition.
Comprehensive and extended screening and
monitoring services for epilepsy shall mean a planned combination of
services including inpatient and outpatient care which shall include, but not
be limited to: electroencephalographic monitoring, selection of appropriate
anticonvulsant medication through neuropharmacological monitoring, surgical
interventions, if indicated, and management of a patient's psychological and
social needs through a coordinated interdisciplinary team approach. For
purposes of this section, extended screening and monitoring services are
considered rehabilitative care.
(2) Comprehensive and extended screening and
monitoring services for epilepsy shall be provided in a hospital approved by
the commissioner pursuant to Part 710 of this Title as a provider of such
services. The purpose of these services is to treat and rehabilitate patients
with uncontrolled seizures in order to restore and promote them to their
optimal level of functioning.
(3)
Administrative requirements.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) policies and procedures be developed and
implemented which address the provision and coordination of care between the
inpatient unit and the outpatient unit for comprehensive and extended screening
and monitoring services for patients with epilepsy;
(ii) a physician is appointed to direct the
service, who is a qualified neurologist and who has demonstrated competence in
the services and care provided to patients with epilepsy;
(iii) an interdisciplinary team of health
care professionals with training and experience in the treatment of epilepsy
shall be responsible for assessing patients and planning, providing and
coordinating care. The interdisciplinary team shall include as a minimum the
following types of health care professionals: neurologist, neurosurgeon,
registered professional nurse, pharmacist, psychiatrist with training in
neuropsychiatry, psychologist with training in neuropsychology, social worker,
dietician, physical therapy, occupational therapist, and dentist;
(iv) consultative services of a neurologist
with experience in pediatrics shall be made available as needed;
(v) the service shall provide or make formal
arrangements for vocational rehabilitation services and special education
services for patients who can benefit from such services;
(vi) comprehensive and extended screening and
monitoring services for epilepsy shall include clinical services with staff
specialized in electroencephalography, cable telemetry and neuropharmacological
monitoring of anticonvulsant drugs; and
(vii) as part of the hospital's quality
assurance program, the comprehensive epilepsy service shall implement a system
for evaluating the quality and appropriateness of patient care and patient
outcomes. Reports summarizing the outcomes from the quality assurance program
for these services shall be submitted to the department on an annual
basis.
(h)
Pediatric and maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
services.
(1) Applicability.
(i) AIDS centers designated in accordance
with subdivision (g) of this section which have pediatric and/or maternity
services shall provide specialized services for infants, children, adolescents,
and pregnant women who are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or
who are HIV antibody positive and comply with the pertinent provisions of this
subdivision as well as those in subdivision (g).
(ii) Hospitals not designated as AIDS centers
in accordance with subdivision (g) may be approved to provide specialized
services for infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women who are
infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or who are antibody positive,
if the hospital:
(a) is in an area of high
prevalence of HIV infection in children and women as evidenced by the
hospital's newborn HIV seropositivity rate and the hospital's discharge rate
for pediatric and maternal HIV related disorders;
(b) provided care in the past to pediatric
and maternal HIV patients;
(c)
demonstrates that it is unable to meet the requirements for full designation
under subdivision (g) of this section; and
(d) complies with the requirements of this
subdivision and subdivision (g) of this section, except for the definition of
AIDS center in paragraph (g)(1) and except for the administrative requirement
regarding designated patient care units in clause
(g)(2)(i)(a).
(iii) A patient shall be eligible for
services if the patient is an infant, child, adolescent or a pregnant woman who
is infected with HIV or is HIV antibody positive, whether or not the patient
has progressed to symptomatic HIV related illness.
(iv) For purposes of these regulations,
family shall include the patient's immediate kin, legal guardian or anyone with
significant personal ties to and who resides with the
patient.
(2) Organization
of services.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) patients who require HIV related services
are identified and referred for care by the pediatric and maternal HIV
services;
(ii) obstetrical,
pediatric and medical services develop and implement procedures to coordinate
the clinical care of pediatric and maternal HIV patients to ensure the
voluntary identification of potentially affected patients and family members
and the delivery of appropriate services;
(iii) an organizational plan and policies and
procedures are developed and implemented which address interdepartmental
relationships and communications between the pediatric and maternal HIV
services;
(iv) patient care
services are provided through a coordinated interdisciplinary team approach.
Inpatient and outpatient services shall be organized to preclude unnecessary
hospitalization and to ensure continuity of care. A member of the
interdisciplinary team managing the patient shall be designated as the
individual patient's and family's case manager and shall be responsible for
serving as a liaison among patient, family, staff and resources in the
community and responsible for coordinating the comprehensive family management
plan;
(v) services are
family-centered and, in addition to the inpatient services, include the
following ambulatory care and community support services: dental, substance
abuse treatment, family planning, infusion therapy, mental health,
neurodevelopmental evaluation, nutrition, rehabilitation therapies, prenatal
care and primary care services;
(vi) other health and related human services
are provided or arranged for as appropriate to meet the personal, social,
educational, developmental and financial needs of these patients, including as
a minimum:
(a) personal services such as
caregiver support, day care, homemaker, housekeeper, transitional residential
living programs, respite and transportation to and from needed
services;
(b) referral for legal
services as appropriate to the needs of the patient;
(c) identification and referral of children
and adolescents in need of foster care and adoption services;
(d) financial services such as emergency
support, food stamps, housing assistance, medical assistance, public
assistance, Social Security Disability, Supplemental Security Income and
Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children;
and
(e) education and developmental
services such as early intervention and therapeutic day care
services;
(vii) a
comprehensive family management plan is developed and implemented to address
the medical, nursing, nutritional, functional, developmental, educational,
psychological, social and financial needs of the patient and family, which
plan:
(a) integrates the patient management
plans as specified in subdivision (g) of this section with plans addressing the
needs of the family; and
(b)
documents the assessment and the monitoring of the patient's and family's needs
with reassessment as necessary.
(3) Patient referral, admission and
discharge.
The hospital shall ensure that:
(i) services begin at the time of the
patient's entry into the pediatric and maternal HIV service program and
continue until the patient chooses not to participate in the pediatric and
maternal HIV service; or relocates outside the pediatric and maternal HIV
service catchment area; or transfers to another AIDS center or pediatric and
maternal HIV service; or expires;
(ii) admission criteria include provisions
for the assignment of pediatric and adolescent patients to a unit appropriate
for the developmental needs of the patient; and
(iii) written policies and procedures are
established and implemented for the pediatric and maternal HIV service to
include voluntary HIV counseling and testing.
(i)
Secure units for tuberculosis
patients including detainees.
(1)
Definition.
Secure unit for tuberculosis patients including
detainees shall mean a designated patient care unit specifically
designed to treat patients who have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis.
Hospitals shall provide such patients with safe and adequate care within such
unit in accordance with procedures approved by the commissioner. Patients
eligible for admission to such units shall include:
(i) patients who have been found to be
noncompliant with medical regimens and legally remanded to such unit who shall
receive priority admission to and retention in such unit. The rights of such
patients to leave such units shall be restricted in accordance with the order
legally remanding them to such units; and
(ii) other patients requiring acute care for
active tuberculosis but not legally remanded for treatment, including
intensified treatment for those individuals with multiple drug resistant
tuberculosis. Such patients shall retain rights to voluntary egress from and
entrance to such units in accordance with generally accepted medical practice
and consistent with the rights of patients in other units of the
hospital.
(2) Staffing
and operation.
A secure unit for tuberculosis patients including
detainees shall:
(i) maintain staff
that are adequate in number and trained, including continuing education and
inservice training, to perform all necessary activities related to the
treatment and care of such patients with tuberculosis;
(ii) implement procedures to identify,
diagnose and treat patients who exhibit signs and symptoms of infectious
disease including the use of appropriate isolation practices;
(iii) consist of an environmentally sound
physical plant in accordance with current, generally accepted standards of
infection control practices specifically relating to tuberculosis. Such
practices shall address ventilation, air dilution, and the provision of
adequate and appropriate isolation facilities; and
(iv) provide adequate and effective personal
protective devices to any persons at risk of exposure to infectious
tuberculosis. Such protective devices shall be utilized and monitored through a
respiratory program which shall ensure training, proper use and/or fit of such
appropriate devices in accordance with generally accepted standards of
practice.
(3) Approval.
Hospitals wishing to operate secure units for
tuberculosis patients including detainees, for which construction approval
pursuant to Part 710 of this Title is not otherwise required, shall apply to
the Commissioner of Health for approval to operate such units pursuant to
section 710.1(c)(5) of
such Part specifically requiring a limited review.
(j)
Tuberculosis treatment center-for
legally detained tuberculosis patients.
(1) Definition.
Tuberculosis treatment center for legally
detained tuberculosis patients shall mean a designated patient unit or
site specifically designed to treat and contain those patients who have been
remanded pursuant to applicable statute, for treatment, care, and observation
for active tuberculosis. Hospitals shall be equipped and staffed with
safeguards approved by the commissioner as adequate to contain these patients
and prevent elopement or escape.
(2) Admission, transfer and discharge.
(i) Patients shall be admitted to such center
only when:
(a) such patients require a reduced
level of medical care with such care needs expected to continue for an extended
period of time;
(b) such patients
do not require the greater intensity of services provided by a secure unit for
tuberculosis patients as defined in subdivision (j) of this section;
and
(c) such center has the
capability to meet the ongoing medical, nursing and psycho-social needs of the
patient.
(ii) Patients
shall be transferred from such center to a secure unit for tuberculosis
patients at a hospital operating such unit when:
(a) a change in the patient's medical
condition necessitates movement to a unit providing more intense
services;
(b) security for the
legally remanded patient during transfer can be assured; and
(c) the patient and the patient's designated
representative have been notified of the pending transfer. Such notification
shall be given as soon as possible after the need for transfer has been
documented.
(iii)
Patients shall be discharged from such center only when treatment goals have
been met in accordance with the order legally remanding them to the
center.
(3) Staffing and
operation. A tuberculosis treatment center for legally detained tuberculosis
patients shall:
(i) maintain staff that are
adequate in number and qualifications to perform all necessary activities
related to the care and treatment of such patients with active tuberculosis.
The staff shall be from those disciplines that provide the training necessary
to meet the medical/nursing and psycho-social aspects of the care necessary for
these patients;
(ii) implement
procedures to diagnose, treat and monitor patients who exhibit signs and
symptoms of infectious disease, including the use of appropriate isolation
practices;
(iii) consist of an
environmentally sound physical plant in accordance with current, generally
acceptable standards of infection control specifically relating to
tuberculosis. Such plant design shall include adequate dilutional ventilation,
safe exhaust/discharge of potentially contaminated air, and the provision of
adequate isolation facilities with appropriate directional air flow;
(iv) provide adequate and effective security
control systems which will safely contain the legally detained patient and
prevent elopement or escape of such patient;
(v) provide adequate and effective personal
protective devices to any persons at risk of exposure to an infectious
tuberculosis patient. Such protective devices shall be utilized and monitored
through a respiratory program which shall adequately train individuals in the
proper use and/or fit of such appropriate devices in accordance with generally
accepted standards of practice;
(vi) monitor employees for tuberculosis
infection on an ongoing basis and review aggregate results of such monitoring;
and
(vii) monitor environmental
controls to ensure proper functioning.
(4) Approval. Hospitals wishing to operate a
tuberculosis treatment center for legally detained tuberculosis patients for
which construction approval pursuant to Part 710 of this Title is not otherwise
required, shall apply to the Commissioner of Health for approval to operate
such centers pursuant to section
710.1(c)(5) of
such Part, which provides for a limited review.