Health facilities: general acute care hospitals.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law defines a general acute care hospital as a health facility having a duly constituted governing body with overall administrative and professional responsibility and an organized medical staff that provides 24-hour inpatient care, including the following basic services: medical, nursing, surgical, anesthesia, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, and dietary services. This bill would provide that, for the purposes of licensing, dietary services may be provided either at the hospital or in another hospital immediately adjacent to the hospital as long as dedicated facilities are in place to accommodate the delivery of these services and the department determines that all applicable statutory and regulatory standards pertaining to dietary services have been met. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill imposes a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, proposed by SB 177, to be operative only if SB 177 and this bill are both chaptered and become operative before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.